The Kitsune Seal
by animefan29
Summary: Orochimaru gives Naruto the Curse Seal for research, but Kyuubi has other plans for it, and starts a new line of seals controlled by Naruto. Strong Naruto not super.
1. Chapter 1

**The ****Kitsune**** Seal**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, but it sure would be nice if I did

"Hello" - Speaking

'_Hello_' - Thoughts

"**Hello**" - **Demon/Boss Summon Speaking/****Jutsu**

'_**Hello**_' - **Demon/Boss Summon Thoughts**

* * *

**Prologue**

The nine Bijuu were gigantic beasts of incredible power that surpassed that of any ninja summon beast, even Gambunta, Manda, and Katsuya, three of the most powerful summons. The weakest of their number having one tail and their strongest possessing nine tails. Many call these beasts evil demons and vile monsters for the chaos and destruction they leave in their wake, but that is inaccurate. The Bijuu may be demons but they are also forces of nature, thus they are neither good nor evil, they simply are. Over the years the seal masters of the Elemental countries have found ways to seal the Bijuu, first into objects that have their own special properties, and then into human hosts who would become known as the Jinchuriki (power of human sacrifice).

The Jinchuriki were granted special abilities that were completely unique to themselves depending on which Bijuu was sealed within them. But this power always came with a price. The chakra of the Bijuu is far more potent then a humans chakra, and in much greater quantities. Drawing on to much of the beasts chakra would often cause too much strain for the hosts body and mind to handle, and this leads to the weakening of the seals used to contain the Bijuu, granting them the chance to escape. Even if they don't use the demon's chakra, the hosts often develop psychological problems because the seals aren't strong enough to keep the two minds separate.

The separation of a demon from its host invariably leads to the human's death and the Bijuu's freedom, and the stronger the demon they contain, the swifter death comes. This was considered a fact of life for those who knew of the existence of the Jinchuriki.

That is until the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, imprisoned the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a demon of such incredible power that it had never been sealed before, into a new born baby using a seal that called upon the Shinigami, the only being whose powers surpassed the Kyuubi's, to bind the two souls so that should one die the other would follow. To spare the child the fate that faced other Jinchuriki the Yondaime designed several other seals to both help suppress the Kyuubi's chakra, and at the same time it would be continually converted into human chakra. Unfortunately, he underestimated the sheer power that Kyuubi had, and he merely delayed the inevitable, or what would have been the inevitable if not for the unintended intervention of the Snake Sennin Orochimaru.

* * *

Chapter one 

(First day of the of the second test of the Chuunin Exam in the Forest of Death).

To say that the disguised Orochimaru was surprised would be a bit of an understatement. The previous years academy dead last Uzumaki Naruto was holding back one of his mid-level summon snakes with nothing but his own body and two kunai, after having defeated another of his snakes. He had also proven that he was brave and able to think clearly in dire situations when he grabbed the scroll his teammate Sasuke had thrown when he attempted to give their heaven scroll to Orochimaru in order to pacify him and save his team, not that it would have worked. Finally to top it all off he was the child that the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi no Kitsune into. From everything that he had seen this was a dream come true.

'_Kukukuku__…I will have to talk to __Kabuto__ about his information gathering skills, to not know that __Naruto__ is the __Kyuubi__ brat. From what he has shown me so far I can only guess that the only reason he was dead last was because his teachers tried holding him back, and threw him out of the library. __Hmmmm__…demon vessels are known to be able to recover from injuries more quickly __then__ normal people. Add in the demon's chakra_, _and I have a cornucopia __of future__ research material. All I need to do is make sure that he comes to me, after the exam. __Kukukuku__…and I can make sure that happens._' Orochimaru grinned as he extended his tongue and wrapped it around Naruto's body.

"Damn it!! Let go of me!!!" shouted Naruto as he struggled to get out of his rather disgusting bindings.

"Oh, don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll let you go, but not until I give you a little going away present." said Orochimaru as he went brought his hands into some variant of the Tora seal and mutters, "**Juin Jutsu **(Cursed Seal Technique)". Extending his neck he sinks his fangs into Naruto's left shoulder, causing three swirling tomoe marks appear as he gave him the Cursed Seal of Heaven.

"What did you do…AAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Shouted Naruto as started screaming himself into unconsciousness from pain.

"If you survive this, then you will provide wonderful data for future vessels." Whispers Orochimaru as he tosses Naruto away.

"NARUTO" Shouts Sakura as she throws some kunai to snag Naruto's jacket on a tree. "Sasuke-kun! I know that Naruto isn't the best ninja, but how can you just stand there and watch as Naruto gets hurt protecting you!" Sakura shouts at her dark haired teammate with tears in hers eyes. Naruto, the dead last, had gotten hurt because he jumped in front of the giant snake that was headed straight for Sasuke as he, the rookie of the year, had frozen like a rabbit in the eyes of a predator. She might not have had the skill to help Naruto fight of the Grass-nin, but Sasuke did and he just stood there.

Those words shouted at him by his pink haired teammate, snapped Sasuke out of his daze. Activating his sharingan and pulling out three windmill shuriken and four kunai. Sasuke threw the kunai and watched as his opponent dodged them one by one, predicting where he will move to until he threw his shuriken. The androgynous looking ninja dodged those as well but noticed at the last minuet the wires Sasuke was using to manipulate the path of the shuriken with his chakra, using the shuriken to wrap the Grass-nin around a tree with the wires. Smirking Sasuke makes the Tora hand seal and shouts, "**Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu **(Dragon Fire Technique)" Causing a large stream of fire to run from his mouth, along the guide wires to incinerate his captured opponent, or so he thought.

"Kukukuku…such an impressive display of the sharingan, you are most definitely worthy to be called an Uchiha. In fact, I believe that yours eyes could surpass Itachi's." Chuckled team 7's enemy who walked out of the flames with his only wound appeared to be his half melted face, reveling pale skin around a yellow snake like eye.

"Who are the hell are you?" Questioned a both frightened and angry Sasuke. Frightened because this unknown ninja had just shrugged off one of his strongest attacks like it was nothing. Angry, like he always was whenever some mentioned his brother Itachi.

"My name is Orochimaru, and I expect you to survive this exam so that we may meet again, but you will have to get through my men first." Orochimaru stated while holding up the burning heaven scroll that he got off Naruto. "Now before I leave…" He makes the unusual Tora seal again and his neck extend to cross the distance between the two shinobi, and sinks his fangs into Sasuke's shoulder muttering, "**Juin ****Jutsu**."

"This is what you used on Naruto." Sasuke said rather weakly as he fell to his knees as Orochimaru retracted his head.

"Yes…you both will come to me seeking power." Was all Orochimaru had to say.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Screamed Sasuke as the pain of the Cursed Heaven Seal integrating itself into his body hit him.

"SASUKE-KUN!!" Screeched Sakura, "What did you do to him?"

"Kukukuku…I gave him and Naruto a little going away present." Chuckled the Snake Sennin as he sank into the tree branch he was standing on.

Turning back to Sasuke, Sakura sees that he had fallen unconscious just like Naruto had who was still hanging by the kunai. The only thoughts running through her mind were, "_What should I do?_"

* * *

Within the sewer-like mindscape of Naruto's mind resides the cage that keeps the soul of the Kyuubi no Kitsune imprisoned, and before its massive doors lies the unconscious representation of Naruto's body. From within the cage a pair of giant blood red eyes opened followed by a foxy grin so feral it could only be on the face of one creature. 

"**I don't know what that human was up to, but thanks to him and that seal of his, I now have a way to ensure my survival.**" Said the awakened Kyuubi as he started pouring his demonic chakra into the Cursed Heaven Seal that had appeared above the young blond.

The Kyuubi had always known that despite the power of the Shiki Fuujin (Dead Deamon Seal), Hakke no Fuuin Shiki (Eight Divination Sign Seal), and the two Shishou Fuuin (Four Image Seal) they would only prolong the inevitable of any human who had been forced to contain such powerful chakra. Granted these seals made it much harder for the Kyuubi's chakra to overflow to the point that it be harmful to Naruto, but it could still happen. And because Naruto's chakra coils contained two different charka's and was constantly increasing, his control was horrible, meaning that he would eventually have to use the Kyuubi's chakra, thus shortening both his and the fox's life. Now Kyuubi didn't have much of a life at this point, but he was still very much attached to it, and now some sort of body altering seal has plopped into his lap and he could use it to improve his host's body. The Shiki Fuujin would prevent any mind altering effects of the Heaven Seal so all he had to do was alter the seal to fit his needs. And if his little changes happen to allow him to see, hear, feel, taste, and smell everything that Naruto did, well then that was just a lucky bonus for him.

"**Heh****heh****…when I am through not only will I ensure our survival Gaki, but the survival of the ****Kitsune**** legacy.**"

* * *

Author's Notes: Well this is my first fanfic, and I hope you readers like it. It is rated T for now, but depending on how my writeing develops and how my readers feel it could get upgraded to M. Reviews with suggestions will be highly appreciated, especially those that concern who I should pair with Naruto. And if you have any questions I will do my best to answer them. 


	2. Awakening Seals

**The Kitsune Seal**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, but it sure would be nice if I did

"Hello" - Speaking

'_Hello_' - Thoughts

"**Hello**" - **Demon/Boss Summon Speaking/Jutsu**

'_**Hello**_' - **Demon/Boss Summon Thoughts**

Author's notes: This chapter will be a lot like the manga, but later chapters will diverge more and more from canon, or at least they should. Please Read the Author's Notes at the end, they are very important.

And I must thank author BackYard id: 1209437 for helping me with my concept for the seal in this story.

Chapter 2 – Awakening seals

Racing through the tree-tops of Training area 44 aka the "Forest of Death" was the Tokubetsu Jounin Mitarashi Anko. Right now she was supposed to be overseeing the second test of the Chuunin Exam. That is until evidence was discovered that one of the most dangerous missing-nins to ever come from Konoha was interfering with it.

Many would consider going after the S-ranked missing-nin Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin to be suicidal, but for Anko this was personal because she was Orochimaru's apprentice before his betrayal. '_Why is he here? Why now? What is his purpose?_' Were the thoughts that were continually running through the purple headed kunoichi's mind. '_It doesn't matter, if you are here then it's time to settle this once and for all, even if it costs me my life._' "Isn't that right Orochimaru." She said coming to stop upon a tree branch.

"Kukukuku…Anko, I see your skills haven't dulled since our little falling out." Chuckled Orochimaru, emerging from the same branch of said tree.

Trying to use any advantage she has Anko immediately leaps into the air preparing to throw the kunai she had hidden in the sleeve of her trench coat. Unfortunately the snake Sannin was prepared and countered by extending his tongue to grab hold of his former pupil's wrist, forcing her to drop the kunai. In response Anko extends her left hand and with a cry of "**Sen****ei****j****ashu** (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)" extends three snakes from her sleeve that latch onto Orochimaru and drag him towards her. Once close enough Anko spins on her heels to pin Orochimaru to the tree trunk, whips out another kunai that she rams through the her left hand and his right hand, in an attempt to keep him from escaping and from using jutsu. Giving the sadistic grin she learned from her former sensei, Anko uses her free hand to grab and manipulate Orochimaru's other hand to make a seal. "I'm just going to borrow your hand for a sec."

"That seal!" Orochimaru gasps upon recognizing the seal.

"That's right, I am taking you down even if I have to go with you, **Souja Sousai no Jutsu** (Twin Snake Double Assassination Technique)." Said a grinning Anko believing that she had won against the man who caused her great pain with his betrayal.

"Kukukuku…Planning to commit suicide Anko? As a Tokubetsu Jounin you really shouldn't be using those Kinjutsu I taught you." Came the voice of the Sannin from behind Anko.

"WHAT?" Cried the Jounin as she whips her head around as the **Tsuchi Bunshin** (Earth Clone) she had been battling dispersed, only to see the form of her opponent leaning against another tree.

"Come now, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Questioned Orochimaru as he ripped away the melted face of the Kusa Shinobi he was impersonating revealing his true serpent like features, and formed a one-handed seal to activate the Curse Seal on Anko to render her helpless.

"Gaaah…Why are you here?" Anko asked dropping to her knees from the pain emanating from the seal on her shoulder.

"Awww, why so cold? I thought that you would have been happy to see me again after all these years." Mocked the former sensei.

Despite the pain the kunoichi was still trying to do her duty to obtain information in case she came out of this confrontation alive, Anko asked one of the most logical questions. "Have you come to assassinate Hokage-sama?"

"No no, I simply don't have enough men to attempt that yet. So I decided that first I would recruit some of the more outstanding shinobi that are currently in this village." Calmly replied Orochimaru. " In fact, I just gave some of the more promising children in this exam one of my Curse Seals. Originally there was only one that I wanted, but then I found another intriguing specimen."

"Arg…How selfish, those kids are going to die." Anko struggled to say through the continual pain of the seal on her neck.

"Hmmm…Don't be so sure. There is a 1 in 10 chance of survival. So he could live through the process like you did." Orochimaru replied, brushing off his student's last statement. "As for the other one that caught my eye, well considering what he is, I am sure he'll survive."

"You must think pretty highly of these two." Said Anko, knowing she was drawing close to collapse.

"Jealous are we? Are you still upset that I threw you away…kukuku?" Asked Orochimaru noting the pain on his former student's face. "The first boy is, unlike you, talented. He's a kid who carries Uchiha blood after all. He's also very beautiful. A perfect vessel to be my successor. As for the other boy, he contains a rather powerful demon that already grants him some special gifts. He'll provide me an abundance of research material that I can use to improve the power of future Curse Seals." Orochimaru continues seeing that Anko was at the threshold of unconsciousness. "If they survive, things could get very interesting. So please don't end the exam prematurely. I am going to enjoy seeing those boys going against the Gennin from my village. If you try to end my fun, I will use all my power and destroy Konoha." Finished the Sannin as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke from his **Shunshin no Jutsu**(Body Flicker Technique).

As he leaves all Anko can do is fall upon the branch she is on as the pain of the Curse Seal finally recedes.

(Back with Team 7 day two of the exam)

Sakura had managed to drag her two unconscious teammates to a small cave formed from the roots of one of the massive trees of the forest. She had stayed up all night only getting about five minutes of sleep every hour, and using a solider pill from her first aid kit to keep her energy up. Once morning had come around she noticed that the tremors of their bodies had decreased and that Sasuke's fever had gone down as well. Despite her best efforts Sakura just couldn't figure out what the grass-nin that attacked them did to cause this reaction. Unbeknownst to her was the fact that she was under observation by the sound Gennin.

"There he is." Remarked the team leader Kinuta Dosu, the mummy wearing a throw rug. "Our target is Uchiha Sasuke. Our orders from Orochimaru state that we are to kill him at the first opportunity. We'll attack at dawn."

"Can we kill the other two if they get in our way?" Asked Abumi Zaku, a boy with spiky black hair with some sort of helmet that protected the sides of his face.

"I don't think it will matter. From the looks of it, that blond boy is out cold from an injury, and the girl appears to have been up all night. Even if they try to stop us they won't be able to do anything." Replied Tsuchi Kin, the only female of the group and obviously the brains of the team.

"Regardless, our orders also say to get rid of any threats to our mission. If they attempt to fight, kill them." Dosu responded. "Here's what we'll do." He said as he began to outline the plan.

Sakura was beginning to nod off again when she detected movement from the bushes. She immediately gripped her kunai and prepared for whatever was coming. She relaxed when she saw that it was only a squirrel, but after a moment of observation, threw the kunai scaring it off. '_That was close._' Sakura thought has she watched the squirrel scamper off.

"Huh. She's pretty observant. I didn't think that pink haired girl would notice the explosive note we put on the squirrel." Muttered Zaku.

"No, that's not it." Said Dosu.

"What do you mean Dosu?" Asked a now confused Zaku.

"We'll find out when we get closer, and probably not until then. That means we're going in to attack directly." Came the team leader's reply.

Sakura was coming down from the small adrenaline rush she got from when she was startled by the squirrel. She was beginning to drift off for another few minutes of sleep, and would have if not for the intrusion of a rival team of Gennin.

"Heh heh, have you been up all night?" Asked a mocking voice from behind Sakura's position.

Adrenaline pumping through her system again, Sakura whipped around towards the speaker and recognized the three Oto shinobi from the tussle right before the first exam. '_Oh no! Why did__ another team have to find us now?_'

"Don't worry; you can go to sleep in a moment, but first wake up Sasuke so we can fight him." Dosu said as he took another step towards the only conscious member of team 7.

"You might as well go find some other team, because our scroll as already taken by some grass-nin!" Sakura shouted at the sound-nins in hopes that they would leave if they believed that she no longer had a scroll to give, while at the same time reaching for another kunai in case they decided to attack anyway, which was a more likely outcome.

"Heh, we don't care if you have a scroll or not. We're not here for the exam; we're here to kill Uchiha Sasuke." Stated the loud mouth of the Oto team, Zaku, who had no qualms about telling others details of the mission since he figured that they would be killed anyway. "But before we do that. I think I'll shut you up for good." He said as he started to advance towards Sakura.

"Hold it Zaku." Cautioned Dosu as he pulled back his teammate.

"WHAT? Why?" Questioned the now irritated Zaku.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice. The ground around here is all wrong. There's a recently turned over stone, spots of darker dirt indicating digging, and patches of ground where it appears that grass doesn't grow. You know, traps don't work very well if their noticed." Said Dosu, directing that last comment at Sakura.

"Man, what a stupid mistake for a ninja to make." Remarked Zaku.

"So when she threw that kunai earlier, it was to stop the squirrel from setting off the traps. Not because she noticed the exploding note." Observed Kin, who caught on to the significance of the action before Zaku.

"So can I kill her now?" Asked Zaku.

"We have no use for her. Go ahead and kill her." Commanded Dosu.

With that the three Gennin leapt into the air to jump over the poorly hidden traps on the ground. However because they were feeling pride in detecting and easily avoiding the leaf-nin's traps they failed to look "underneath the underneath". Thus they failed to notice Sakura's smirk as she cut a wire anchored to the ground next to her that led into the treetops. However the sound Gennin did not fail to notice the rather large log that suddenly came swinging down from the canopy.

"A second trap from above!" Shouted Dosu. "You'll need more than that." He said as he braced his right hand against the log while making a half Tora seal with his left hand to more easily focus the chakra going to his Melody Arm. The chakra was molded to create sound waves that the unusual weapon than amplified to a point that the waves were able to shatter the log into splinters. Of course Dosu and his teammates were the only ones in the Chuunin exam that knew of this unusual property.

'_Oh __no_.' Were the horrified thoughts running through Sakura's head as she watched her trump card break into useless firewood.

"Nice try, but a weakling like you has to work a lot harder before you could hurt someone on our level." Jeered Dosu as he descended to attack Sakura.

"**KONOHA SENPU **(Leaf Whirlwind)." Was the only sound that marked the entrance, of the incredibly fast, spinning mass of destruction that came rushing into the clearing and sent all three Sound Gennin flying away from their target. "If that is the case, then I must give the same advice." Said the spinning mass as it came to stop in a defensive Taijutsu stance in front of Sakura, revealing one of Konoha's strongest, bravest, and freakiest Gennins, Rock Lee. He was one of the strongest due to his intense Taijutsu training that would break lesser ninja. He was one of the bravest for never backing down from a challenge that could possible kill him (refer back to why he is strong). And he is one of the freakiest because he wore a green spandex jumpsuit, had a bowl style haircut, buggy eyes, had the thickest, bushiest eyebrows you had ever seen, constantly screamed about the power of youth, and for some reason there was a squirrel riding on his shoulder.

"Who the heck are you?" Asked Dosu as he pushed himself off the ground to face the new arrival.

"I am the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha…Rock Lee!" Exclaimed the green clad shinobi.

"L-Lee? Why are you here?" Asked the highly surprised Sakura.

"As I told you before. I will always appear when you are in trouble, and I will protect you with my life." Proclaimed Lee as he set down the squirrel and continued to stare down the Oto shinobi. This was without a doubt the coolest he has ever looked and it is in front of the girl he has a crush on no less.

"Nice speech, but you weak leaf-nins are going to have to do better than that if you want to stop us." Said Dosu as he charged forward with his right arm cocked and ready to use his Melody Arm weapon.

Sakura immediately recognized the danger of facing someone who had an unknown ability and threw a third kunai to disrupt Dosu's attack. It worked in the sense that it delayed him has he dodged once again into the air and descended to strike Lee. That extra few seconds were all Lee needed as he thrust his arm into the ground and used his incredible strength to pull out a giant portion of the root of the giant tree that Sakura had chosen as a hideaway while her teammates were knocked out. Using the root as a shield he blocked the punch Dosu had directed at him. Upon impact of fist and wood, the root exploded in a similar manner to the log form earlier. Using the bursting splinters as a distraction, Lee then maneuvered out from beneath the broken root and delivered a punch to Dosu's stomach, sending him back several yards.

"I don't know what kind of trick you use, but I do remember your demonstration from before the exam, so I know that simply dodging won't do me any good." Stated Lee as he brought up the incident where Dosu had decided to show the strength of Otogakure no Sato. This meant that he showed some of his abilities in front of other Chuunin hopefuls who had two days to devise a strategy to counter it. '_But I am at a disadvantage of 3 to 1 . I will have to risk revealing the full power of my own technique._' Thought Lee as he partially undid the wrappings on his arms.

"Bah…don't think that I'll give you a chance to do that again!" Exclaimed Dosu as he rushed forward yet again. He was only able to get to within a few feet when Lee made his move. "What? He vanished!"

Lee had moved at a speed where he was able to cross those few feet in the span of an eye blink. He had completely bypassed Dosu's guard and delivered a powerful kick to his chin, launching the sound-nin into the air. Lee immediately jumped into the air, appearing behind Dosu, whom he tied up with his arm wrappings before flipping each other so that their heads were pointing to the ground. Once that was part was prepared, Lee started spinning both of them at a speed that made them look like a mini-tornado. "**PRIMARY LOTUS!**" And just as Dosu had made contact with the ground Lee had unwrapped himself from Dosu and leapt away.

"Phew…looks like I made it in time." Muttered Zaku who had his hands stuck in the ground after using a jutsu to soften the landing.

"Aaaahhhhh." Breathed Dosu as he extracted himself from the soft dirt.

"NO WAY!" Exclaimed Lee as he saw someone actually get up after getting hit by one of his most powerful techniques.

"What a terrifying technique. To do this much damage even on a sponge of dirt." Stated Dosu as he shook off loose dirt on his person, and turned to Lee while prepping his arm once again. "But now it's my turn." With that he rushed at Lee once again.

'_Damn. My body still isn't ready._' Thought Lee as he knew his body was still drained after using one of his most tiring attacks. So this time he could not dodge Dosu's punch which hit him square on the jaw.

The punch itself was nothing a person of Lee's caliber couldn't handle, but the jutsu was. Once the strike connected Lee's vision blurred and it felt has if the world was spinning underneath his feet.

"If your moves are at high speed." Said Dosu as he started gloating, "Then ours are at the speed of sound. And that is a wall no amount of hard work can surpass."

As these words were spoken, Lee spewed vomit. It was then that he felt something warm and wet in his ear. Touching it with his fingers and bringing it into his field of vision he saw that it was blood, meaning that his ears were bleeding.

"Have you figured out why you can't simply dodge my attacks." Stated Dosu, "The trick is sound. Even if you dodge the fist, the sound will still attack you. Sound is comprised of vibrations in the air that the ear drum catches. And if the sound waves are at the proper pitch and frequency, they'll break the ear drum. Not only that, but they can damage the membrane of the inner ear, which controls balance in the body." Explained Dosu. "Heh heh…you won't be able to properly move your body for awhile."

Now Zaku decided to add in his own gloats. "Your lame old Taijutsu won't work against us. You did well. You even forced me to use my jutsu. Of course you still failed." Zaku said, both complementing and insulting the leaf-nin. "With my jutsu I can control supersonic sound and air pressure to such a degree that I can even destroy rocks with it. So blasting air into the earth making a cushion is nothing." He said explaining how his technique works, which for a ninja is a rather stupid thing to do.

Lee just glared at him as Zaku insulted the moves that his sensei and mentor had taught him.

"Now it's your turn!" Said Dosu as he charged at Sakura. Fortunately for Sakura, Dosu had forgotten that you should never underestimate or disregard another ninja unless they are dead. This is why he was taken completely by surprise when Lee suddenly moved in front of him and prepared another kick. Unfortunately his balance was still off, so Dosu was able to use his leg as a hand board to dodge.

"Whew…You scared me there for a moment, but it looks like my jutsu is affecting you. So now you've lost the ability to use repeated Taijutsu in a flash. Which leaves you open." Dosu says, punctuating his point by punching Lee again. Lee managed to block with his arms this time but was immediately assaulted by the sound waves. "This melody arm of mine is capable of amplifying even the smallest of sounds to the highest levels. You can think of it like a speaker. Except the sound doesn't follow my arm. I use my chakra to make it go wherever I want it to go." Explained the sound user.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Screamed Lee as he collapsed under the pressure in his ear.

"Lee!" Shouted Sakura seeing her rescuer brought to his knees.

"Now, let's finish this." Dosu brought up his arm to deliver the finishing blow, not taking any more chances with the Gennin that had already surprised him more times than he liked.

"I won't let you!" Shouted Sakura as she whipped out three more kunai in one hand, and some shuriken in the other. She threw the kunai which went right at their target, Dosu.

In response Dosu merely brought up his right arm and blocked them with his Melody Arm.

This time Sakura threw her shuriken, only for those to be intercepted by Zaku, who had been moving into position to join the fight, as he finished the seals for his jutsu. Raising his arms he let loose powerful sound waves to create enough air pressure to knock away the weapons.

'_Damn it. He can use that air pressure jutsu to knock away anything I throw at them._' Thought Sakura as she tried to think of plan to get past their defenses. But in her attempts to think of a plan to deal with Zaku and Dosu, she didn't notice the movements of the kunoichi until she was right behind her.

"My, my. Such lovely hair." Commented Kin as she roughly grabbed Sakura's long hair. "No wonder you were brought down so easily. You must spend more time brushing your hair then training." Kin turned her attention to her teammates. "Hey! Zaku how about you kill Sasuke now. It ought to leave quite the impression on this pathetic excuse for a ninja."

"Heh heh…Good idea Kin." Chuckled Zaku as he moved towards the unconscious boy.

Sakura was in turmoil. In every fight she and her team had been in, she had always been useless. Kakashi had taken her out with a simple Genjutsu during her Gennin exam. When team 7 was attacked by the demon brothers, she just stood there while Sasuke disabled them. In the first fight with Zabuza, it was Naruto's plan that freed Kakashi with a little help from Sasuke. In the second fight, even though she doesn't know the details because of the mist, she knew that it was Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi that took out Zabuza and his apprentice Haku while she stayed behind to guard their client Tazuna. Then there was the Kusa shinobi from yesterday who hadn't even considered her worth his notice, instead focusing on Sasuke and Naruto and he got back to them. Now here she was in a disabled position because of her desire to have beautiful hair while her teammates were out cold, and the only other Gennin who was probably even willing to help her had been taken out by these sound-nin that were about to kill one of her teammates. '_No more._' Sakura thought has she took out another kunai.

"Pffft…Don't make me laugh. You won't be able to use that on me." Said Kin as she continued to hold onto the Konoha kunoichi.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Sakura as she swung the kunai behind her in the most desperate move she had ever done. And it worked as she cut through her intended target. She moved away from Kin while pink locks of hair fell to the ground with her hitai-ate.

"Damn it. Kin kill her!" Yelled Zaku as he was getting really annoyed with how his opponents just wouldn't quit.

Kin pulled out some senbon from her pouch and tackled into Sakura while sticking the needles into her spine. However Sakura had already used the seals for a **Kawarimi no Jutsu** (replacement technique) and replaced herself with a log. Zaku had seen the seals and was preparing his jutsu as he searched for her position.

'_Is she kidding? Using such a basic jutsu. Now where is she? ...There, to the right_' "Kin, out of the way!" Zaku shouted as he swung towards his target and unleashed his technique right when Sakura threw more kunai at him. "**Zankuuha** (Decapitating air waves)." The air blew the kunai right back towards Sakura, striking her, only for Sakura to disappear in a puff a smoke revealing a log from yet another Kawarimi. "You aren't fooling anyone. You're above." He said has he looked up to see Sakura using the seals for Kawarimi again. "It's useless to keep using that trick." Zaku threw some kunai, not wanting to waste anymore chakra on a log. "Now where are you?" He muttered as he turned his attention to the surrounding forest. He stopped when he felt a drop a of blood fall upon him. He looked up in growing horror to see Sakura with some kunai in her arms and legs and another in her hand. '_It's not a __Kawarimi_' Were his only thoughts as she fell upon him thrusting the kunai into his right arm as she bit into his left wrist. "AAAHHHH! Let go of me!" Shouted Zaku as he repeatedly hit Sakura on the head in an attempt to get her off. Finally after quite a few punches he threw her off. "I'll get you for that you brat." Zaku said as he raised his arms and looked into his opponent's bloodied face.

"Stop right there!" Shouted a bossy female voice as three more ninjas, two who jumped in while dragging the rather large third member by his scarf, appeared in between Sakura and Zaku. The three ninjas were none other than Sakura's fellow leaf-nins and former classmates, team 10. A team comprised of the lazy Nara Shikamaru, Sakura's bossy, blond rival Yamanaka Ino, and the "big-boned" Akimichi Chouji.

"What are two thinking? These guys are way too dangerous to fight!" Whined the reluctant Chouji. "Shikamaru, let go of my scarf!"

"Yeah right baka. I know this is troublesome, but we have no choice. If Ino is coming out to fight then we men can't run away." Explained the oddly chivalrous Shikamaru.

"Sorry to get you involved guys. But we are a team. We share the same fate." Apologized Ino.

"Don't worry Ino; we'll get through this somehow." Assured Shikamaru.

"You both are nuts!" Shouted Chouji, who was still trying to get away.

At all of this Zaku couldn't help but let his mouth run, "Heh heh…Go ahead and leave if you want…Fatty."

At that word all of Chouji's struggles ceased instantly as his ears twitched. "What did he say? I didn't hear him." Said a deceptively calm Chouji.

"Huh?" Was Zaku's reaction to the large boy's sudden change.

'_Uh Oh. That word is taboo around Chouji. If he says it twice…_' Trailed off Shikamaru's thoughts as he awaited the expected reaction.

"If you want you can run away…Fatass!" Said Zaku even louder than last time to get his point across.

With that Chouji turned on him, a look of rage that would scare anyone who was smart enough to understand (Cough…not Zaku…Cough…sorry about that, the snow must be giving me a cold). "I AM NOT FAT! I'M BIG-BONED! HURRAY FOR BIG-BONES!" Shouted the enraged Akimichi, surprising Sakura who had always considered Chouji as gentle as a teddy bear. "You guys understand! This is now a war between Konoha and Oto!" The excited giant said to his teammates.

'_Hee hee…Now that Chouji's snapped, this will be a lot easier._' Thought Ino.

"Aw man. This is so troublesome." Said Shikamaru seeing his friend's reaction as he dropped the scarf he had been holding.

"That's our line." Said Zaku to Shikamaru. '_Sigh…We're supposed to kill Sasuke before the end of the exam…_' Were his annoyed thoughts.

As all this banter was going on, no one noticed the sudden change in Naruto and Sasuke's condition.

"Hey Sakura," said Ino, "take care of those two. While we take care of these three."

"Yeah." Was Sakura's only response.

"Alright boys! It's time to show the full power of the new team Ino-Shika-Cho!" Shouted Ino to excite her teammates.

"YEAH!" Shouted the already excited Chouji.

Despite seeing the situation as troublesome, Shikamaru couldn't help but give a small smile. Which is as excited as he gets.

"Ino-Shika-Cho first formation! Chouji do your thing!" Commanded Ino.

"OK!" Said Chouji as he ran though the seals for one of his family's jutsus. "**Baika no Jutsu** (Multi-size Technique)!" He shouted, expanding his body to the size of a boulder twice his size. "Followed by Konoha Taijutsu **Nikusha** (Meat tank) (This is my best translation for Meat Tank)!" With that his head and limbs disappeared into his body has he started spinning at a high speed. On a collision course with Zaku.

"What kind of weird jutsu is this?" Questioned Zaku, "No matter, it's just a rolling fatass. **Zankuuha**!" He said, unleashing his air pressure jutsu. However the jutsu did not cause the expected result of sending his enemy flying backwards. Instead after a few seconds of struggling against the air, Chouji bounced into the air, surprising Zaku. '_Damn it. With all that spinning air pressure is useless. And I have to touch him to use sound waves, but that would crush my arms._' He thought.

Seeing his teammate's predicament, Dosu moved to intercept the falling leaf-nin.

'_I don't think so. You're the most troublesome of all._' Thought Shikamaru as he went through the seals for the most basic of the Nara clan's jutsus. "**Ninpo: Kage Mane no Jutsu** (Ninja art: Shadow Imitation Technique)" The jutsu he used caused Shikamaru's shadow to expand and stretch until it connected with Dosu's shadow. Causing him to halt in his tracks as he started imitating Shikamaru.

"What the? My body? My shadow?" Exclaimed Dosu, seeing the shadow and feeling the effects of the jutsu. Meanwhile, Zaku had barely managed to avoid being crushed by Chouji. Now Shikamaru was getting creative and forced Dosu's hands above his head in some weird pose.

"What the heck are you doing Dosu?" Screamed Kin.

"All right Ino. Take out the girl." Said Shikamaru to his blond teammate.

"OK, be sure to take care of my body." Replied Ino has she made the seal for her clan's jutsu. "**Ninpo: Shintenshin no Jutsu**(Ninja art: Mind Body Change Technique)." Immediately her body fell over unconscious as her soul left it and entered the body of Tsuchi Kin. "It's over now!" Exclaimed Ino in Kin's body as she took out one of her kunai. "If you guys move an inch I'll kill this girl. If you don't want it to end here, then leave your scroll and get out. After 15 minutes I'll let her go." Threatened Ino, but was disturbed when all Dosu and Zaku did was chuckle darkly. '_What's with this two. It's like they don't care._' She thought. Then Zaku gave her his response. That response was a one-handed Zankuuha that blasted Ino/Kin into a tree. "GAAA!" She cried as she fell.

"Ino!" Shouted Shikamaru, who was looking at Ino's body in his arms, while blood dripped from the mouth.

"Why did these guys hurt their own comrade?" Ino weakly questioned from the ground.

"Heh…Are you confused?" Asked Zaku.

"Our goal is not to collect some stupid scrolls or to complete this exam…" stated Dosu, shocking the leaf-nins, "…it's Sasuke."

'_Damn, this is bad. And my jutsu is ending._' Thought Shikamaru.

"Ah…Looks like your jutsu has a time limit of about 5 minutes." Said Dosu as he saw Shikamaru's shadow return to normal and he regained control of his body. "And it appears that the girl's jutsu allows her spirit to enter and control another's body. But if that bleeding is any indication then if we kill Kin, then we kill her as well." He observed.

"I can't take anymore of this!" Exclaimed annoyed voice above them. "Watching some minor sound-nins bullying a bunch of second rate ninjas, and declaring victory before they've been disabled." Said the voice's owner Hyuuga Neji standing next to a girl with a twin bun hair style whose name is Tenten, Rock Lee's teammates.

"These guys are like cockroaches. Get rid of one and a dozen takes its place." Said Dosu, annoyed that some leaf-nin considered himself above the Oto shinobi.

As Neji's eyes swept the battlefield he spotted the prone form of his comrade Lee. "You made a mistake." He stated turning his attention back to Dosu. "That knocked out freak right there is from our team and…Your going to pay for that!" He punctuated by activating his Byakugan, the famed Doujutsu of the Hyuuga clan and rival of the Uchiha's Sharingan. The bulging veins and intense stare of his eyes was enough to freeze the younger ninjas in their tracks. "If you intend to continue this, then I will have to go all out on you." Neji warned. '_Huh? What is this chakra?_' He thought as he spotted something unusual with his Byakugan.

"Heh heh…If you don't like it so much, then stop acting cool and come down here." Taunted Dosu as he recovered.

"Hmmm…No." Stated Neji as he deactivated his eyes. "It seems that won't be necessary." He said confusing Dosu.

That's when everyone felt a pulse of chakra from the base of the tree. There they saw Uchiha Sasuke getting up onto his feet, but instead of instilling hope into the leaf-nin like it should have it instilled fear. Sasuke appeared very menacing with his Sharingan blazing, and black fire markings covering half of his body. But what truly frightened the onlookers was the purple chakra that swirled around him, giving off some sort of tainted feeling. As if it was poisonous.

"Sakura, who did this to you?" Sasuke asked when he saw his injured teammate. After not receiving an answer he spoke again. "Who did it?"

"We did it!" Zaku proclaimed who didn't grasp the whole situation.

But Dosu did. '_That's Orochimaru-sama's Curse Seal. The only way he could have that is if Orochimaru-sama put it there himself._'

Sasuke heard Zaku, but he was more focused on his teammate Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun…your body." Was all she could say.

Sasuke looked at his hand to see what she meant. "Don't worry Sakura. I can feel the power and how it overflowing in me…I feel great. And he gave it to me." He said, confusing Sakura with that last remark. "I finally understand. I am an Avenger. So even if I must make a deal with the devil, I will do it to obtain the power I need." He explained. "Now, it was you guys who did this, right?" Sasuke asked, turning his attention to the sound-nin.

"Ino! Return to your body, we don't want to get caught up in this! You too Chouji, we're out of here!" Shouted Shikamaru as he started running for the hills, as Ino released her jutsu and Chouji followed.

As team 10 was running, the amount of chakra coming from Sasuke started increasing, causing the seal markings to spread across the rest of his body.

"So much chakra." Whispered a scared Dosu. '_Not only did he survive the process, but he already has this much control over the Curse Seal._'

"Hey Dosu! There's no need to be afraid of this half dead freak!" Shouted Zaku as he prepared his strongest jutsu.

"No Zaku! Don't you realize what that is!" Yelled Dosu trying to warn his teammate, but it was too late.

"**Zankyokukuuha** (Extreme Decapitating Air Waves)." Zaku yelled while releasing the strongest wave of air pressure yet, that blasted apart everything in its path. "Heh…I've blown him away." He said eyeing the destruction.

"Blown who away?" Came the voice of the Uchiha from behind Zaku where he appeared with Sakura and a still unconscious Naruto. Right before delivering a backhand strike, strong enough to send Zaku flying several yards. He didn't stop there as he made the hand seals for one of his jutsus. "**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu** (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)." Taking a breath Sasuke released numerous small fireballs from his mouth.

Zaku had recovered from the backhand and raised his arms to use his favorite move again. He succeeded in blowing out the fireballs, but he didn't use enough chakra to blow away the shuriken hidden inside the fireballs. Some of the shuriken managed to hit Zaku, but they didn't hit any vital spots, nor did they do anything to disable him. However the shuriken were just distraction so Sasuke could get in under Zaku's guard. Before Zaku knew what was happening, Sasuke had holding his arms out behind him with his foot on Zaku's back.

"So, your proud of your arms?" Asked Sasuke. "Then why don't I do to them what you did to Sakura's hair." He said as he applied opposing pressure to both arms and back. He kept at it until an audible snap was heard in the clearing, followed by Zaku's scream of pain. "You're the only one left." Sasuke said as he turned his attention to Dosu. "Let's hope you prove more entertaining than your comrade."

"STOP!" Shouted Sakura as she couldn't stand to see Sasuke act so cruel.

Sasuke did stop his advance on Dosu, but not because of Sakura. It was because of a second pulse of chakra that was equal to if not stronger then what was coming from Sasuke, and that was coming from Sakura's direction. Turning his attention towards her he, as well as everyone else, saw what it was. There stood Naruto, but this was not the happy-go-lucky Naruto everyone knew, nor was it the serious Naruto that only team 7 and Iruka had seen. This was a feral, beast-like Naruto. Where Sasuke had appeared menacing with his Sharingan and black flame markings, Naruto looked predatory with his claw turned nails, lips curled in a snarl revealing fangs that could put an Inuzuka to shame, deepened whisker marks, and blood red eyes that possessed and animalistic slit for a pupil. But like Sasuke it wasn't his appearance that frightened those around, but the feeling coming off his chakra. Sasuke's chakra felt like it was some poison that would slowly consume you from within in a steady controlled manner. Naruto's chakra felt like more like a raging wild-fire that would quickly burn and consume you from the outside.

"Hnnn…Well Dobe, it looks like you finally woke up." Commented Sasuke, eyeing Naruto.

"Teme." Was Naruto's response, looking at Sasuke, then Sakura, and finally turning his attention to Dosu. He did not like how Sakura looked and if what he saw was right then it would be the sound-nin that would feel his wrath.

Needless to say Dosu was terrified. Not only did Sasuke have the power of a Curse Seal, but his teammate had a similar yet different power. "You two are far too strong." He said drawing Sasuke's attention again. Placing his Earth scroll upon the ground, he started to move to gather his teammates. "Consider this a peace offering to allow myself and my team to leave."

"Hnnn…To quote the one who gave us this power, 'Why would we accept the scroll when we can just kill you and take it'." Said Sasuke, sounding like Orochimaru, as he started to advance on Dosu. This time with Naruto by his side.

"STOP IT!" Shouted a terrified Sakura as she brought her arms around their shoulder and hugged both of them. "Please, stop." Was all she said as she wept while trying to turn her teammates and best friends back to normal. This time her voice reached them and their seals deactivated.

Sasuke's markings receded as he came out of his anger and revenge obsessed state. At the same time Naruto's beast-like features shifted back to his normal appearance as he came out of his instinct driven state. Both boys were tired from having their seals activate for the first time however they could still fight if Dosu tried anything.

"Even with those seals deactivated, my offer still stands. I would continue, but there are things I must find out." Said Dosu as he picked up Zaku and move towards Kin. "But I will promise you this. If we meet again in this exam, we will neither run nor hide." He said as he picked up the kunoichi.

"Wait!" Shouted Sakura, catching Dosu's attention. "Who is Orochimaru? And what are these seals he put on Sasuke-kun and Naruto?" She questioned.

'_So, he did put a Curse Seal on the blond, but that was not a normal one._' Thought Dosu as he answered. "I don't know. We were simply ordered to kill Sasuke, nothing else." '_What are you planning Orochimaru-sama? First you order us to kill Sasuke, only to attack him first. And instead of killing him, you gave him a Curse Seal which he could live through and get stronger because of it. And what kind of seal did you put on this Naruto kid_' With that the team of ninja from Otogakure disappeared into the forest.

**Author's Notes:** Well this is the second Chapter. I would have written more, but I felt I was taking way too long to update. I am a college student working on a research paper, and I never really liked the confrontation between the sound and leaf Gennin. The parts I truly enjoyed writing was the bit with Anko and Orochimaru, and the part where Sasuke woke up and I finally got to change some things to suit my needs. I would have skipped much of the chapter, but then it would be a lot shorter and I felt that it was an important scene overall for development.

Now for the fun stuff.

Here is the how the pairings are going

Naru/Hina 2

Naru/Saku 1

Sasu/Hina 1

Shika/Tema 1

Ino/Cho 1

Neji/Ten 1

Other 1

So far 4 people have made their opinion known. Two voted for a Naru/Hina pairing. One voter said that any pairing will work for him except Naru/Hina, that's the other. And one voter gave me the rest of the listed pairings. And I might go with his suggestion because he really got into it. Again if you have a preferred pairing, please inform me. You guys have until the end of the Preliminaries, which will give you about two maybe three more chapters. I'm sure I can find a way to make all the final pairings work out. Although I don't think I can have Hinata in a believable relationship with anyone until after the time skip, considering her problems with confidence and the family she is from. But I know I can make it work, even if it is with Sasuke.

Also when I feel the time is appropriate, I will up the rating of this story to M, once I figure out how. When that happens there is a good chance that I will write some citrus, actually that would be the only reason to make it M. I doubt I will be writing any scenes that will be that violent and gory. But I have a pretty high standard for how much blood and action a teen can handle (I saw Starship Troopers when I was eleven, and that is a nasty movie). And I personally frown on people who feel the need to result to vulgar language to express their feelings, to insult others, or simply because they know what the words mean and find it funny (No offence to any readers).

**Please Read and Review**. I will not stop writing if I do not get reviews, but if you play your cards right, then they will guilt me to update faster. And I enjoy getting suggestions and critique from people willing to read my work.

Also I am looking for a Beta. Preferably one using a Microsoft Word 2007 program. Maybe even a Window Vista operating system, because I don't know how that affects file transfer.


	3. Gather the Scroll, Get to the Tower

**The Kitsune Seal**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, but it sure would be nice if I did

"Hello" - Speaking

'_Hello_' - Thoughts

"**Hello**" - **Demon/Boss Summon Speaking/Jutsu**

'_**Hello**_' - **Demon/Boss Summon Thoughts**

Chapter 3 – Gather the scroll, Get to the tower

The Genin of Konohagakure were tired. The only ones who weren't were the two who had no interaction with the sound-nins, Neji and Tenten. Neji was observing the exhausted Naruto and Sasuke with his usual calm and cold demeanor, but his mind was in a bit of turmoil as he continually thought back to what just happened with the two boys. '_The power of that chakra was not normal. Did the Uchiha clan really have that kind of strength? And why does that Uzumaki kid possess a similar power? I will have to keep my eye on them for the rest of the exam._' Were the Hyuuga prodigy's thoughts.

Meanwhile, the two boys in question were sitting next to their pink haired teammate. They were trying to figure out what that Kusa shinobi did to them, as well as what happened while they were knocked out.

"Hey Sakura-chan. What happened to your hair?" Asked Naruto.

"Oh, I decided to cut it as long hair really isn't that practical in this forest." She answered, leaving out the fact that the length of her hair had allowed her to be disabled when the sound-nins attacked.

"Man this is troublesome. Hey Ino, could you take care of Lee?" Spoke the lazy voice of Shikamaru, who had come out of hiding when he could no longer feel that weird chakra.

"Shikamaru? What are you guys doing here?" Questioned Naruto when he saw team 10.

"It's too troublesome to explain." Was all the shadow user had to say.

Tenten then decided it was time to jump down to pick up her wayward teammate. "I'll take it from here." She said as she took Lee from Ino's arm and gently woke him up. "HEY LEE!! SNAPP OUT OF IT!! (SLAP…SLAP) WAKE UP!!" Of course gentle for Lee meant agonizing pain for others.

"Huh…Wha…Tenten? What are you doing here?" Lee groggily asked as he woke up.

"We came to pick you up since you missed the return deadline." Tenten replied.

"Oh, I see." Lee said as he looked around him to get an idea of the current situation. "Hey, where are those sound-nins?" He asked, curious about their absence.

"Those kids, Sasuke and Naruto drove them off." Said Tenten. "So why did you decide to deviate from the plan and act on your own? And how did you get so beat up? You are never in such bad shape even after sparing with Gai-sensei." Scolded Tenten, who sounded more like Lee's mother.

Lee couldn't help but wince at his teammate's somewhat harsh words. "Sakura-san was in trouble, and I couldn't let her face those ninja alone. It would have been most unyouthful." He explained in a tone that pulled at Tenten's heart with the seriousness and maturity it contained. "But seeing as I failed to protect her and now know that Naruto and Sasuke not only saved her, but me as well leads me to one conclusion," he continued. "THAT I MUST INCREASE MY TRAINING SO THAT MY FLAMES OF YOUTH MATCH THEIR'S." Screamed Lee as he returned to his normal self causing Tenten to sweatdrop.

'_Oh well. The maturity was nice while it lasted, but at least Lee is back to normal._' She thought as Lee continued his ramblings about youth and training with Gai-sensei.

"Hey Look! It's Bushy Brows!" Shouted the blond Uzumaki as he spotted the green clad shinobi. Naruto liked the guy even if he had some oddities about him. So, just as he did with others that he liked, he gave him a less then flattering nickname, but only one other person understood that about Naruto, and he wasn't there.

"Naruto! Be nice to Lee!" Said Sakura as she hit him over the head for his rudeness. "Lee, thank you for saving me. If you hadn't come, I'm sure that those sound-nins would have killed me and my team. And thank you for helping to inspire me to rethink my life as a kunoichi, I already feel stronger because of it." She said with a smile on her face.

Lee couldn't help but shed a few tears at hearing someone say they were inspired by his "flames of youth", even if they did not use those words. "Sasuke…the power of the Uchiha clan truly is great. And Naruto…you must be a true genius of hard work. For both of you to so easily defeat those sound-nins that defeated me." He said to the boys standing next to their pink haired teammate. Those words shocked both of them, but left a much deeper impression on the Uchiha.

'_What? He was beaten. How could they beat Lee? Lee kicked my ass just two days ago, and now he gets beaten by someone I defeated so easily._' Sasuke pondered this question. '_They must have used their numbers to overwhelm him 3 to 1._' He reasoned, but as he looked at his hand and remembered the black markings that were on it earlier, he developed a small feeling that that wasn't the answer. He was broken out of his contemplations when the blond of team 10 spoke up.

"Hey Forehead. Come over here so I can straighten your hair." Said Ino, calling Sakura by her hated nickname.

"…Sure Ino-pig, why not." Sakura replied as the two girls settled back into their roles has rivals. Although they were being friendlier to each other then they had been in years.

As he watched the leaf-nins give up their exam rivalry, if only for a short time, from the treetops Neji continued his thoughts from earlier. '_Uchiha Sasuke…Uzumaki Naruto…let us see how far fate will let you go._'

(Time Skip: Second day of the Exam-Evening)

By noon team 10 finally left team 7 to go and continue the exam. Since Negi wanted to continue as quickly as possible, Lee's team had left earlier, once Lee had recovered from the sound based attacks. Team 7 had decided that because of the condition the boys were in, they would only rest for a few hours, as they were just tired and did not have any injuries. After about seven hours of rest they left the clearing and traveled by tree hopping for an hour till they came to a river and decided to stop for the night. Their current plan was to follow the stream in the direction of the tower. There they would have a better chance to find a team that would probably have both of the needed scrolls, or at least had thought along similar lines and possessed the heaven scroll. Being close to the river would be an added bonus as it increased the chance to come across another team.

Now, however, team 7 was more interested in getting some fresh dinner, and food for the future. Since they were by a river they decided to fish, shinobi style. This meant that Naruto would jump into the river when he spotted a fish and use his shinobi reflexes to grab it and throw it into the air. Then Sasuke would throw a kunai at the fish, impaling it against a tree, a feat that he could do even without his Sharingan. While the boys did this Sakura set up the camp.

Several hours later, once all of this was done, and as they were just finishing up their dinner around a fire Sasuke lit with a toned downed version of the **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu** (Great Fireball Technique), they got down to business.

"All right guys, we need to talk about how we're going to get a heaven scroll." Said Sasuke getting the attention of his teammates. "We're coming to the part where getting a scroll won't be easy."

"What are you talking about Sasuke? We have plenty of time." Said Naruto confused.

"Naruto, listen to Sasuke-kun. We may have time but the other examinees have had almost 48 hours to prepare, while we had to rest from our confrontation on the first day. This puts us at a disadvantage. You would know that if you had spent more time listening to Iruka-sensei instead of sleeping in class," lectured Sakura. "Now we have to decide whether to we should set up an ambush and risk not even seeing another team. Or we can actively search out another team and run the risk of stepping into an enemy trap." She explained.

"If those are the choices then I say that we go and find a team, trap or not. At least then we know we'll have a chance to get another scroll." Exclaimed Naruto as his usual brash self.

"Dobe…use your head for once," said an annoyed Sasuke. "Running into a trap is one of the quickest ways to end your shinobi career. Since every team has to go to the tower at the center of the forest, our best chance to ambush them would be there." He continued. "It's too dark to go on tonight. I'll go and scout around a bit. When I get back we'll set up a watch schedule and get some sleep." With that, Sasuke got up and left the camp.

The remaining two members of team 7 just waited and watched in case someone came by. Until Naruto got bored and started examining the earth scroll they had.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." He said to catch her attention.

"What is it Naruto?"

"When we were in the academy, did the teachers ever say anything about the significance of the relationship of "earth" and "heaven"?" He asked in an oddly serious tone.

Sakura thought for a minute before she answered in the negative. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Well the goal of this test is to get two scrolls with secret information on them. Then we have to take those scrolls to a tower that we need both scrolls to get into. If you think about it that would mean that the scrolls have half of a two-part password needed to gain entry. However, I can't help but think 'Why did they give the scrolls a theme of earth and heaven?' They could have given them more nondescript names such as the white scroll and the brown scroll, but they didn't. So I think that if there is a password it has something to do with the names of the scrolls." Naruto said in a surprising well thought out answer.

Sakura just stared at him in shock as he once again surprised her. She knew that Naruto was pretty good at thinking up plans to get out of trouble, often doing so in the span of seconds, but only when that trouble was breathing down his neck. Normally, it was she and Sasuke who would analyze situations ahead of time to make plans. She was impressed and was about to complement him on his deductive skills when he opened his mouth and spoke again.

"Or, maybe they just like making things more dramatic. Anyway, I have to use the little shinobi's room." He said in his usual overly loud voice as he tossed her the scroll and left, causing Sakura to sweatdrop.

"Just be sure you don't get caught with your pants down again Naruto-baka." She shouted to his retreating form. '_That Naruto, one minute he surprises and impresses you. The next minute he acts like a total goof who doesn't take a thing seriously._' Sakura thought with an amused and annoyed expression; however, Naruto's words returned to her and she couldn't help but wonder why the scrolls were named the way they were. If he was right and there was a two-part password that had a relation to earth and heaven, and if she knew what half of the password is, then she might be able to figure out the other half. But that meant breaking the rules of the test and getting expelled from the Exam, unlike the first test where you still had a chance if you were caught cheating. She continued to ponder about how the proctors could know if they had opened the scroll or not, until a voice broke her from her reverie.

"I hope you weren't thinking of opening that scroll."

Sakura turned to the speaker to see the silver haired Yakushi Kabuto.

"It isn't a smart idea to go disobeying the rules for this part of the Exam." He said has he stepped towards Sakura, until he felt the press of the cold steel of a kunai against his neck.

"And it's really not a smart idea to approach an enemy shinobi unless you know where their teammates are." Spoke Naruto, who had gone into the bushes and doubled back around when he heard Kabuto approach.

"Whoa…easy there. I'm not here to fight. I already have both of my scrolls." Kabuto said as he tried to calm the shinobi, while holding out his scrolls to show that he was telling the truth. Though in reality, he wasn't worried in the least. '_Very nice Naruto-kun. If I really were a lone Genin, then I have no doubt that you and Sasuke-kun up there could have killed me and taken what you needed by now._' "See? I have no reason to fight you guys."

Now Sasuke decided to make his presence known as he spoke from the tree branch he was on. "You have no reason to fight us but we have every reason to fight you."

"That you do. However, if you choose not to fight me, then I could prove to be a big help to you." Said Kabuto trying to convince team 7 to let him tag along so he may observe Sasuke.

"Why exactly are you so interested in helping us?" Asked Naruto as he kept the kunai in place, just in case.

"I am interested in helping you because I got separated from my teammates while avoiding the local wildlife. Since we already had our scrolls we decided to meet up at the tower in case of just such an event. If it was one of my teammates they would have just continued going; however, they were always more combat oriented, and I usually focused on handling information." Kabuto said as he fabricated a beautiful lie that was partially true. "And that's how I plan to help you. I know enough about most of the other participants to give you an edge even if you fall into an ambush." At these words Sasuke's ears perked up as he began thinking. "Since I am not much of a fighter, I decided that my best chance to get to the tower is to find a team of fellow Konoha shinobi who might be willing to help a comrade who's in trouble. And in return I would help them get a scroll if they needed one."

"Naruto, let him go," commanded Sasuke after he weighed the pros and cons.

"What!? What are you thinking Teme? For all we know this could be a trap!"

"Then it would be a pretty stupid trap. First, I didn't find any trace of his teammates when I was scouting. Second, he can't get us to walk into a trap if he doesn't know which path we will take to get to the tower. Finally, he already has both scrolls, so why would he try to get ours." Said Sasuke as he explained his reasoning to his blond teammate. "Besides, he is a fellow leaf-nin. He could just want to help like Lee, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji did earlier."

Naruto reluctantly pulled the kunai away from the silver haired Genin's neck. He didn't know why, but for some reason Kabuto put him on edge. He had done nothing to warrant suspicion, and the fact that he was a shinobi of Konoha meant that he should be trust worthy. He just seemed to be give off a bad vibe. This confused Naruto because he hadn't felt anything like this when Kabuto introduced himself before the first test, and had even helped the rookie Genin with his ninja info cards. And he had been brought to his knees by the sound-nin Dosu when he called Otogakure weak, so he didn't seem that strong. But for some reason Naruto's gut was telling him that Kabuto was bad news. But Sasuke had made sense, and there really was no reason to be suspicious.

"All right guys, we need to get some rest now," stated Sasuke. "Naruto gets the first watch. I'll take the next watch. Sakura, you'll have the third and final watch. Kabuto, you won't be getting a watch shift. It's not that I don't trust you, I just won't give you a chance to betray us."

"Don't worry, I understand," assured Kabuto.

(Morning of the third day of the Exam)

Dawn had come signifying the third day of the Exam. And with the rising of the sun, too did team 7 rise.

It took them minutes to pack up and leave their camp site to head to the tower in hopes of finding another team and finishing this part of the Exam.

They traveled at a moderate pace in the trees, and changed directions every now and then to make sure that they weren't being followed or fell into a trap. After several hours of tree hopping, they finally stopped within sight of the tower.

"Well guys, there's the tower." Said Kabuto as he and team 7 took a quick break to catch their breath. "From here on out we'll have to be very careful. It's going to be nearly impossible to avoid any enemy traps."

"That's why you're here Kabuto." Sasuke said, reminding the silver haired Genin. "Because of your knowledge on the other Genin teams, you're our ace in the hole."

"Well, it's nice to know that you think me so useful Sasuke-kun." Said Kabuto as he put up his friendly smile that often wins him the trust of others.

"Hey Kabuto," Naruto called from the side, "do you know anything about centipedes?"

"Centipedes? Well I know that despite their small size they have a rather nasty bite that should be treated with an antihistamine, but only if there's no infection (that's your fun fact for the day). Apart from that nothing. Why?" Kabuto replied, somewhat confused, as he and the rest of team 7 turned towards their comrade. Only to stop as they saw something that completely disgusted Kabuto and Sasuke and caused Sakura to freak out.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!" She screamed as she threw a kunai into the giant centipede's head, killing it.

"Awww, Sakura-chan, why'd you have to kill it. That was a cool bug." Whined Naruto.

All Sakura could mutter in reply was, "Eww…so big."

Meanwhile, the others were recovering from their shock, although Sasuke was still thinking about how disgusting the centipede's legs were. Kabuto readjusted his glasses to regain his composure. '_No matter how many times I see them, those giant bugs still creep me out._' "Well Sakura-chan, I hope you got that out of your system and that you realized that you probably alerted any nearby enemies to our position." Despite his stern appearance on the outside, Kabuto was actually quite happy on the inside. '_Now thanks to Sakura I don't have to risk revealing myself, making it easier for me to evaluate Sasuke's skills._' Sakura had the presence of mind to at least look ashamed, despite how creeped out she still was. "We should move slowly and safely to avoid detection." Kabuto continued, '_That way we will give enough time for one of the more skilled teams to trap us._'

Team 7 and Kabuto were annoyed. They had been walking for over two hours and the tower never seemed to get closer.

As they continued Sakura started to notice how familiar the area was, causing her to pause. "Sasuke-kun, stop!"

"What is it Sakura?" Sasuke asked as the group came to a stop.

"Something's not right. I think we've been here before." Sakura said, voicing her concerns.

"I believe your right Sakura-chan. In fact I believe that we've been caught in a Genjutsu to make us walk in circles." Kabuto stated as he pointed towards the clue that lead to his observation. Said clue being the centipede that Sakura had previously killed. "They must have been trying to tire us out until the perfect opportunity to attack us arose," he surmised. "Be on your guard. Since we know about them, they will strike at any moment."

"They're already here." Smirked Naruto as their welcoming committee revealed themselves, among whom was the Ame Genin that got the drop on him on the first day. He smirked because the rain-nins chosen means of attack was the use of some sort of Bunshin.

"So Kabuto, ready to do your part?" Asked Sasuke as he calmly took in the scene. Neither he nor Sakura were worried since they were used to seeing Naruto make a lot of clones.

Kabuto pulled out his deck of ninja info cards and selected three of them while applying his chakra. "Let's see who we got. Oboro, Kagari, and Mubi. Genin from Amegakure no Sato. Jounin Sensei: Unknown. Have participated in one other Chuunin Exam. Signature technique: **Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu** (Haze Clone Technique). The jutsu is basically standard Bunshin that number somewhere around a hundred. I'm guessing that the purpose is to use the large number as a screen to cover attacks."

"Heh Heh…The one in glasses is pretty smart, but brains won't help now that your trapped like rats." Spoke one of the clones. A second later said clone was struck by Naruto. But instead of disappearing like a normal Bunshin, the part struck exploded like water only to reform into a second Bunshin that tried stabbing Naruto with a kunai. Attempted being the key word because Sasuke struck the bunshin in the arm with four shuriken, causing the arm to burst and reform before throwing the kunai at Sasuke who dodged on instinct. The kunai missed and hit Kabuto, causing a real cut which should not be possible for an illusion.

"Kabuto!" Cried Sakura in worry of her temporary teammate.

"Well, that's interesting," commented Kabuto as he held his wound to stop the bleeding. "It appears that they improved their Genjutsu so they can repair and create more clones at the same time. Considering how little chakra is needed for Bunshins, they can just stay in hiding while timing their attacks to match their clones."

"If they're in hiding, then it's time to find them. **Sharingan**!" Sasuke said as he activated his Doujutsu. Unfortunately the moment he started using chakra for his eyes he felt a sting from the seal on his neck as it started to activate. Sasuke suppressed the pain and the seal at the same time, but Kabuto still noticed.

'_Looks like the Curse Seal is working appropriately. Orochimaru-sama will be pleased to hear that._'

Naruto smiled when one of his "on the spot" plans came into his head. "I think I should even the odds." He said as he brought his hands into a cross-shaped seal to perform his favorite jutsu. Sasuke and Sakura smiled at this while Kabuto grew worried.

"Stop Naruto-kun! If you attack them like that you'll just be wasting chakra!" Kabuto shouted hoping the blonde wouldn't ruin his plans. Of course, he didn't know of Naruto's little secrets.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Shadow Clone Technique)!" Naruto shouted while creating thirty Kage Bunshin. This stunned Kabuto as he knew that because of the chakra requirements, even elite Jounin had trouble making 20 Kage Bunshin and Naruto didn't even look winded. Although no one had noticed how his nails had lengthened into claws, or how his pupils gained an animalistic slit. "How about you guys give me a hand with your Bunshin."

Now this confused his teammates but they went ahead and created their own clones.

"**Bunshin no Jutsu** (Clone Technique)," said Sasuke, Sakura, and Kabuto together, and realized Naruto's plan the moment their Bunshin appeared.

"All right guys, Let's Get Wild!" Naruto cried as he and the others rushed the Oboro Bunshin. The fighting was quick and brutal. The Oboro Bunshin were torn down one by one, but for every one that fell two took its place. A solid ten minutes had past and apart from the disappearance of a few Kage Bunshin and regular Bunshin neither side showed signs of relenting.

Needless to say, the Ame Genin were growing annoyed.

"Man…how long is this going to take?" Complained Mubi from their treetop hideaway.

"Don't worry, there's no way they can outlast our jutsu. All we have to do is wait for them to grow tired and then we kill them," assured Oboro.

"Unless of course we find you first." Said the smug voice of Uchiha Sasuke from behind the rain-nins.

The Ame shinobi were quick to react, but not fast enough as their arms and legs became pincushions for kunai and shuriken, disrupting their chakra and causing their Bunshin to disperse. That's when Sasuke, Sakura, and Kabuto appeared behind them with a kunai at a different vital point. Sakura at the spine of Mubi. Kabuto at the kidneys of Kagari. And Sasuke at the heart of Oboro. "How?" Was all Oboro could say as he started to feel his consciousness slip away.

"It was easy." Proudly stated Sakura. "First Naruto created his little army of Kage Bunshin to fight your Oboro Bunshin. Then he Henged some of his Kage Bunshin into us when we made our own Bunshin," she explained.

"That way we could slip away without you noticing." Stated Sasuke as he picked up where his teammate left off. "After that, finding you was easy. You were constantly using chakra to repair your Bunshin, and my Sharingan eyes were able to see you because of it." He said while he turned off his eyes, and felt the Curse Seal recede back into dormancy.

The Ame-nins could do nothing as they slipped into unconsciousness from blood loss.

It only took Sakura a minute of searching before she came across the heaven scroll team 7 needed to pass. "Sasuke-kun I found the scroll, and it's a heaven scroll."

"Good job Sakura. Now let's pick up Naruto so we can finish this test." Sasuke said as he hopped back down to the ground, followed by the other two. "Hey dobe, we got the scroll, let's go!" He called.

Naruto dismissed his Kage Bunshin but was a little miffed. "Why did you have to knock them out Teme? I was just starting to have fun." He was annoyed but followed the others anyway. Again no one noticed how Naruto's eyes and hands returned to normal after dismissing his clones.

Kabuto just couldn't help but be amazed at what he had seen. '_He makes thirty Kage Bunshin and fights for ten minutes, and he is still able to run. He has an enormous amount of chakra, and enough stamina to make good use of it. If he manages to master his chakra he will be outstanding. I really need to update my files on him._'

Team 7 and Kabuto had managed to reach the tower without further incident. Shortly after reaching the tower they came across two Konoha shinobi who had been camping right outside.

The two wore outfits similar to Kabuto, except that they wore bandanas that covered their heads and masks that covered their lower faces. And to Naruto they seemed to be giving off the same bad vibe as Kabuto, only not as strong.

Upon seeing team 7, the two came up and addressed them.

"Kabuto, your late," said the one in sunglasses.

"Sorry Yoroi. I ran into some trouble. Fortunately I met some fellow leaf-nins that were willing to help me out." Responded the silver haired Genin to his teammate.

"Well hurry up, we're tired of waiting." Said the now identified Yoroi as he and his other teammate moved over to the doors they were going to use.

"Hai, I'll be right there," said Kabuto. "Well this looks like where we part ways." Turning to team 7 he continued. "Let's hope our paths cross again after the Exams." And with that he left through the doors his team went through.

"Come on guys! Let's get this test over with!" Exclaimed Naruto, who was happy to finish any test he took, and to be away from Kabuto and his team. Naruto opened the doors and entered a fairly large room. What he found odd though, was how there was no proctor or even a Chuunin to welcome those who made it to the tower. "There's nobody here. What are we supposed to do now?"

"Hey! Look at that!" Said Sakura as she pointed out a large plaque with an inscription on the wall.

"Without Heaven, Seek Wisdom. Without Earth, Run in the Fields." Read Naruto. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Looks like it's missing some words there at the end." Observed Sasuke.

"Heaven…Earth." Mused Sakura. "It's obviously referring to the scrolls. It could be telling us that we have to open the scrolls now." With that she got out the heaven scroll she was carrying, while Naruto held out their earth scroll.

They both held out the scrolls, knowing that if they were wrong then all their work to get to the tower would be for nothing. On an unspoken command, both Naruto and Sakura opened their scrolls revealing an intricate series of seals that looked familiar. Only a second later the scrolls started smoking and Sasuke finally recognized the purpose of the seals.

"Guys drop the scrolls!" He shouted, knowing the seals effect but not what would happen.

No sooner were the scrolls on the ground when there was a large poof of smoke that dispersed to reveal the form of one Umino Iruka.

"Congratulations team 7. You passed the second of the Chuunin Exam."

"Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here?" Asked Naruto.

"The test is set up so that when a team opens their scrolls here in the tower, a Chuunin is summoned to greet them and explain what they are supposed to do now. Since it's only the third day, you'll just be waiting here in the tower until the test ends. When that happens, they'll gather all the Genin that passed and inform them of the rules for the third test." Explained the academy teacher.

"Uh…Iruka-sensei, what would have happened if we opened a scroll before reaching the tower?" Asked Sakura, as she remembered the incident from yesterday.

"Well if a Genin did that then the summoned Chuunin would have made sure that they were knocked out until the five days were up." Iruka stated, not knowing how thankful Sakura was to Kabuto at the moment for stopping her. "But you didn't, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Uh, yeah…nothing." Said a still somewhat nervous Sakura. "Oh, sensei! What does that inscription on the wall say?" She asked to change the subject.

"I was getting to that." Said Iruka. "That is the Chuunin motto which was written by Hokage-sama. In the paragraph 'Heaven' refers to the mind, while 'Earth' refers to the body. The first part that says 'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared' essentially means gain knowledge and prepare for missions ahead of time. The second part that says 'If you lack Earth, seek advantages, run in the fields' means to train your body so it is fit and able. So having both means that you can take on any mission," he explained. "As a Chuunin you will eventually be expected to lead a team of shinobi into hostile territory, so the purpose of this test was twofold. First it was to test if the Genin could follow their orders and not break the rule of opening the scroll. Second it was to test if the Genin had the strength and knowledge to survive against not only the forest, but also the other teams. These qualities are essential for a team leader." Iruka's face softened has he gazed at team 7. "So, I cannot express how proud I am to see three of my students pass this portion of the Exam and as rookie Genin no less."

Each member of team 7 showed the pleasure they felt at their former teacher. Sasuke smirked. Sakura smiled widely while her inner self was shouting how awesome they were. And Naruto was surprisingly calm as he grinned while holding up the victory sign. That lasted two seconds when the next few words came out of Iruka's mouth.

"So Naruto, how about after the Exam we go out to eat at Ichiraku Ramen." And with that Naruto was bouncing off the walls shouting about how great Ramen was, what a terrific person Iruka-sensei is, and other such nonsense. "Well I'll take that as a yes. Now, you guys should be getting upstairs." Iruka said sending the Genin to their rooms to rest. "Oh, and Naruto, Sasuke…Kakashi wants to see you two on the sixth floor. It's about your encounter with Orochimaru, and those seals on your necks." There was a very serious tone in the normally cheerful and friendly teacher's voice that clearly said arguing was pointless.

"Ah…Sasuke…Naruto. I'm glad you guys got here so quickly. That makes this easier for all three of us." Said Kakashi as he addressed his students, without taking his eyes off of his Icha Icha Paradise.

"What's this about Kakashi-sensei?" Asked a curious Naruto.

Kakashi snapped his book shut to signify how serious this situation was. "What do you two know about Orochimaru?"

"Orochimaru? Who's that?"

"You were unconscious at that point. He was the one who attacked us in the forest." Sasuke explained Naruto's lack of knowledge.

"That Snake Freak who bit my neck!"

"He also bit my neck." Said Sasuke as he showed his Curse Seal to Naruto.

"What's that mark?"

"That, Naruto, is Orochimaru's Curse Seal of Heaven. It's a very dangerous Fuuinjutsu that he developed." Stated Kakashi as he filled in the gaps of their knowledge. "Orochimaru was once a shinobi of Konoha, but it was discovered that he was conducting illegal experiments on humans. He evaded capture, but not before killing several ANBU and being marked as an S-class missing-nin." This shocked the two Genin because they knew that S-class was the highest class that could be bestowed on a ninja. "We don't know if he developed the Curse Seal before or after he was discovered, nor do we know much about the Seal itself. What we do know is that it is very dangerous to the host, especially when Orochimaru is around." Kakashi said in a very serious tone. "But don't worry. We have our own seal that can counter it." His voice became a bit more jovial as he eye-smiled.

"You can block off the Seal?" Asked Sasuke, who wasn't sure how he felt about that, as he remembered both times it activated, first against Dosu, and then when he used his Sharingan against the rain-nins.

"Hai. I may not be as good with seals as my sensei was, but I am still one of the best seal users in the village." Kakashi said with pride. "I already set up area to use the **Fuuja Houin** (Evil Sealing Method). You two take off your shirts and sit in the center of one of the circles." He commanded and they complied. "Before we begin I am going to point out that the Fuuja Houin relies on the will of the person it is placed on. It will only hold back the Curse Seal as long as you don't wish to use its power. But if you do desire to use the Curse Seal then the Fuuja Houinwill be rendered ineffective. Sasuke I'll start with you." Kakashi stepped over to the Uchiha and ran the needed hand seals, then placing one of his hands on the Curse Seal to direct the seal marking traveling from the floor onto Sasuke's body. No sooner was the Fuuja Houinin place then Sasuke collapsed on the ground.

"Sasuke!" Shouted a started Naruto.

"Don't worry Naruto. Like I said, the seal relies on the power of the one it's placed on. He'll be knocked out while his body adjusts, but he'll be alright." Kakashi said as he moved over to Naruto, looking a little winded himself. "Now let's take care of yo…" He stopped in midsentence when he saw what was on his blond student's neck. "Naruto, did Orochimaru use the exact same technique on you as Sasuke?" He questioned.

"I think so. Why?"

"Oh, your seal just looks a little different. It's probably nothing to worry about. Like I said, we don't know much about the Curse seal, and it probably varies from person to person." He said pushing down his concerns so as not to worry his student. The Copy-nin repeated the sealing process from earlier and watched as Naruto fell unconscious like Sasuke.

Despite being extremely tired from using one of the most complex sealings twice, Kakashi still managed to carry the two Genin to their rooms, before heading to his own where he vowed to have a talk with the Sandaime concerning Naruto, the Curse Seal, and Naruto's tenant. What primarily worried him was the differences in Naruto's Curse Seal. Unlike Sasuke's or Anko's, which were both black swirling tomoes, Naruto's was black with a reddish tint. And instead of three swirling tomoes, the marks resembled animals that were chasing each other in a very tight circle. Animals that greatly resembled foxes.

While the two members of team 7 were on the upper floors meeting their sensei, there was a similar meeting in the lower levels, between master and servant.

"Kukukuku…tell me Kabuto, what did you think of Uchiha Sasuke." Asked the snake Sannin Orochimaru to his right hand man.

"He's quite impressive Orochimaru-sama." Spoke the silver haired spy. "Physically he his very quick and strong. He has excellent skills with projectile weapons. And with the Sharingan those abilities are even more impressive." Kabuto stated. "He also has decent mental strength. He is quick to analyze a situation and use the known facts to plan ahead. He knows how to trust without allowing the opportunity to betray him. He was even able to partially suppress the Curse Seal, if only for a short while. Of course Hatake Kakashi is probably helping him with that even as we speak. Overall Uchiha Sasuke is a very capable young man." He surmised.

"Excellent. And what did you think of Naruto?" Questioned Orochimaru, while observing his servants reaction.

"Naruto?" Asked a curious Kabuto. His master had never expressed any interest in the boy before.

"Yes the blond boy on Sasuke-kun's team," explained the Sannin.

"Well he did surprise me with his abilities. The way he was able to quickly think of a plan to deal with a team of Ame shinobi while incorporating the abilities of his teammates was impressive. It was even more impressive how he managed to communicate that plan without actually telling his team the details. I think the academy might have been wrong to label him the "dead last" of the class." Stated the glasses wearing "Genin."

"Kukuku…yes, I thought so too. That is why I placed a Curse Seal on him as well." Orochimaru said casually, while enjoying his servant's reaction.

"You what!?"

"When I was fighting the boy, certain facts about him came to light. The opportunity was too good to pass up as I realized what a perfect research subject he was." Explained the missing-nin. "I'm surprised you didn't notice it earlier."

"Well, with that high-collared jumpsuit of his, it's no wonder why I didn't see it." Said Kabuto while readjusting his glasses to regain his composure. "But if he does have a Curse Seal, then he must be even better at suppressing it then Sasuke. He managed to create thirty Kage Bunshin and there wasn't any hint of an activating seal." He said in hopes to stun his master for once.

"My my, thirty Kage Bunshin. I knew he had a large amount of chakra, but not that much. But that is to be expected of the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." Orochimaru enjoyed the stunned silence of his servant.

It was dark. It was dank. And much to the Kyuubi's ire it was home. Although even he would admit that it had been improved when his altered seal had settled onto his host.

He watched as the silver haired Jounin known as Kakashi applied another seal in an attempt to suppress the new seal.

Kyuubi found the attempt amusing.

"**Heh Heh Heh. If they think that will hold back the power of my seal, then they are sorely mistaken."** It laughed. **"They may not know of how I altered the seal that snake mortal placed on my host, but soon they will learn to respect and fear the power of the Kitsune. Heh Heh Heh."**

**Author's Notes:** Well that's chapter three, hoped you guys liked it.

First order of business, I would like to thank my new Beta Morgoroth for proofreading this chapter. As some of you may have noticed, I change some things in my writing style as I progress and refine it. But I will try to keep things consistent.

Now on to the poll

Naruto/Hinata 9

Naruto/Sakura 2

Naruto/Tayuya 1

Naruto/Anko 1

Naruto/Ayame 1

Sasuke/Hinata 1

Sasuke/Sakura 1

Sasuke/Temari 1

Shikamaru/Temari 1

Shikamaru/Ino 1

Ino/Cho 1

Neji/Ten 2

As you can see the Naruto/Hinata pairing has a substantial lead, and I will ask that those who have already voted once not vote again because I won't count it. Now Chances are this will be a Naru/Hina pairing. I know some of you threatened to stop reading if I chose Hinata, so you might as well go ahead and stop. Of the possible pairings, the only ones I think that I could write well would be Naru/Hina and Naru/Saku. But like I said any pairing I do, especially those that concern Naruto will take a long time to develop. I mean for a Naru/Hina pairing, first I have to have Naruto get over his crush on Sakura, which I can do. Then I have to have him start to notice Hinata and develop a friendship with her. At the same time I have to make Hinata gain a little more confidence, get over her family, and several other things that follow similar lines. All in all, it will be many chapters before I see them going on their first date. On the other hand, I could probably do a Naru/Saku pairing in half the time, but that would mean upsetting the Hinata fans, and they are like rabid badgers when it comes to getting their favorite pairing (No offence my fellow badgers). Now the polls will still be open till next chapter, so even though it's a moot point, you guys have one more chance to vote.

Speaking of the next chapter, I will be starting the preliminaries next. Now I already have a plot outlined if I use the standard fights, but I will still rework some of the fights so they are different. If I did not already have my next three chapters outlined based on those fights, then I would rearrange the fight order but right now it would simply be to Troublesome.

**Please Read and Review**. In my opinion the only bad review are those that are meant to discourage the author. Other than that, everything is welcome. I enjoy getting suggestions and critique from people willing to read my work.


	4. The Preliminaries Start

**The Kitsune Seal**

**Disclaimer:** (animefan29) Turns to lawyer and asks, "This is my fourth chapter. Anyone who has read my first three chapters know I don't own anything, so do I have to keep saying it. (Lawyer nods head). I do? Sigh…I do not own anything concerning Naruto."

"Hello" - Speaking

'_Hello_' - Thoughts

"**Hello**" - **Demon/Boss Summon Speaking/Jutsu**

'_**Hello**_' - **Demon/Boss Summon Thoughts**

**--**

Chapter 4 – the Preliminaries Start

Sakura had a very strong sense of Déjà vu. For the past 15 minutes she had been watching over her teammates, waiting for them to wake up.

When Kakashi first told her about his use of the Fuuja Houin on Sasuke and Naruto, and how they would be unconscious for a while, she hadn't worried. The sealing had been done by their sensei to help them, and he would want them to be able to participate in the final part of the Chuunin Exam. That was over 30 hours ago and the boys had yet to wake up. What made this really bad was because the second test ended in 30 minutes, and if all of team 7 wasn't there, they would be disqualified. That's why Sakura was worriedly waiting by her teammate's bedside.

It did not help matters that, unlike in the Forest of Death, they only looked as if they were in a deep sleep. Fortunately she had not seen the tiny bit of red chakra that had been dancing on Naruto's left shoulder just minutes before she entered the room, or else she might have had a panic attack. Unfortunately for her teammates, the combined factors of stress and emotional distress that had been building in their pink haired friend was coming to a boiling point, allowing Sakura to express the feelings of her inner self. "WAKE UP YOU TWO LAZY TEMES! IF YOU DON'T, WE CAN'T ADVANCE TO THE NEXT TEST!" Shouted the possessed Sakura as she whacked the two boys in the face with some spare pillows.

As she came down from her emotional high she realized what she had just done and tried to comfort the closest boy, who happened to be Sasuke. "Oooh…Sasuke-kun, I am so sorry. I don't know what happened. I just blacked out for a second…" she rambled. But she forgot that the pillow was still on his face and was smothering him.

"Sakura…can't…breathe…" said a muffled voice from beneath the pillow.

Sakura jumped as she backed away and sheepishly apologized for nearly killing her teammate and romantic crush by suffocation.

"Hnn…Forget about it. Is Naruto awake?" Asked the Uchiha.

No sooner were the words out of Sasuke's mouth, then the blond Jinchuuriki was up and stretching the kinks out of his back. "Aaah…That was a great nap. Oh, hey Sakura-chan. What's going on?"

"What's going on is that we need to get to the center of the tower. You guys have been asleep for over a day. The third test is about to start any minute now," explained Sakura.

"WHAT!?" Shouted the two boys.

"There is no way I am going to get disqualified after getting this far!" Naruto exclaimed as he opened and ran through the door to team 7's room, running headfirst into Hyuuga Hinata. "Oof! Oh Kami, I'm so sorry…Hinata? What are you doing here?"

Hinata had been standing in front of the door using her Byakugan to look inside to observe her secret crush Naruto. But she could never say that to anyone, especially to the boy himself. Well, the part about the crush and using her Byakugan anyway. "U-u-uh, I-I he-heard that y-you w-w-ere hurt-t, and-d I-I c-c-came t-t-to s-see if-f y-you were-re a-alright-t-t." She stuttered before quickly running off, her face as red as a tomato for speaking so many words to her crush. She was quite proud that she managed not to faint.

Naruto just looked on in confusion. He could never figure out what was going on with the lavender haired girl. They had been in the same class in the academy, but the two never really interacted, and the few times they did, she usually fainted. He figured that she didn't hate him because he had spoken to her a few times and her words were kind, even if it was a little difficult to understand her through the stuttering. For the time being, Naruto just chalked it up as one of those girl things that he would never understand.

"Naruto-baka, you need to slow down and look where you're going. We still have some time before the third test," admonished Sakura as she stepped into the hallway and started walking to the arena.

"Hey Sakura-chan, I just saw Hinata. Does that mean her team passed as well?" Naruto asked as he followed her.

"Yeah, she and team 8 were the second team to get here." Sakura answered while recalling her conversations with the other Konoha Genin in the tower.

"Do you know who else passed?" Sasuke asked, curious to know who the rest of his competition would be.

Sakura thought for a moment before answering. "Well the first team to pass was that team from Sunagakure, who got here on the first day. Team 8 got here shortly after them. Lee's team came straight here after they left us on the second day. Our team and Kabuto's team were the only ones to make it on the third day. Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji got here in the morning of the fourth day. And finally the team from Otogakure got in just a few hours ago."

Sasuke had taken in all the information and was using it to determine who would be put on his threat list and in what order. The Suna Genin was placed at the top of the list because they were the first ones here and he had no clue as to what their abilities were. Next was Team Gai. Not only did he not know what Tenten and Neji could do, but he had seen firsthand the edge their extra year of experience gave them when he fought Lee. Team 8 was third on the list because they had arrived at the tower very quickly. Sasuke also knew that the three members of team 8 Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino came from three of the largest shinobi clans in Konoha, but the Genin were never taught what each clan specialized in back at the academy. The Oto Genin and team 10 tied for fourth place. Sasuke knew what the sound-nins were capable of, but they had managed to beat Lee, so they were still a threat. Team 10 was in a similar situation as team 8, since those three came from slightly smaller shinobi clans, but had taken much longer then their fellow leaf-nins to get to the tower (remember, he wasn't awake when team 10 was fighting, so he doesn't know what they can do). Finally at the bottom of the list were Kabuto and his team. Sasuke had nothing against them; it's just that anyone who was on their seventh Chuunin Exam probably did not have the skills to pass.

By the time Sasuke's thoughts were organized team 7 had walked through the doors to the arena. There in front of them, in the middle of the large room, stood the other Genin, lined up by team. At the far end of the room stood the Chuunin that greeted the Genin, the Tokubetsu Jounin that were proctoring the Exam, and the Sandaime Hokage. Behind them stood the Jounin sensei's of the Genin that were still participating.

Once Team 7 had filed into line with the rest of the Genin, the Sandaime Hokage stepped forward to address them. Even at the advanced age of 68, old man Sarutobi commanded a great deal of respect. He was the student of the Nidaime Hokage and teacher of the Legendary Sannin. He was known as the 'Professor of Shinobi' for his knowledge and mastery of a thousand techniques. And as the Hokage, he was recognized as the strongest shinobi and leader of Konohagakure no Sato. "To the Genin here, Congratulations for passing the second test of the Chuunin Exam."

There were varied reactions between the Jounin and Chuunin that gazed upon the Genin who were recognized as the cream of the crop. Anko, who had recovered from her encounter with Orochimaru, was patting herself on the back for surpassing her own expectations for cutting down the number of Genin taking her part of the Exam. Maito Gai was telling Kakashi how his students' "Flames of Youth" would allow them to soar past Kakashi's students. Kakashi just gave Gai one of his "hip and trendy" responses, which always threw Gai for a loop no matter how many times he heard them. Yuuhi Kurenai, sensei of team 8, noticed how Akamaru, Kiba's dog, seemed to be scared of the sand-nins. Baki, the Jounin from Suna, was simply thinking of how Gaara, third child of the Kazekage and his strongest student, had completed another mission unscratched. Sarutobi Asuma was proud of how his team 10 had managed to complete the test with their teamwork, despite their individual flaws. Finally the Jounin-sensei for the Oto Genin, who was Orochimaru in disguise, just gazed upon the Genin, specifically Sasuke and Naruto.

Sarutobi also gazed at the Genin, but unlike Orochimaru his visage was filled with pride, not hunger. Of the seven teams that passed, five were from Konoha, four of them were participating in their first Chuunin Exam, and three were just rookie Genin fresh from the academy. "Before I explain the rules for the third test, I would like to explain to you all the true reasons for the Chuunin Exam." Said the Hokage to the confusion of the Genin. "Officially, the Chuunin Exam is used to 'Promote friendship between the countries' and to 'Raise the level of shinobi.' In reality the Chuunin Exam is used as a replacement for war." He paused briefly to take a puff on his pipe. "Countries that are now allies were once enemies. When they became allies, the Chuunin Exam was created as a replacement for the battles that were once used to determine which Genin should be promoted, and to protect the prestige of the villages." Sarutobi continued, explaining what he was talking about. "During the third test you will be under the observation of the Daimyos, the nobles of the countries, and other influential individuals who are the clients that hire shinobi for missions. The strength of the Genin is used to determine the strength of their village. If the Genin are seen as strong, then the village will be seen as strong and receive more clients. On the other hand, if the Genin are seen as weak, then the village is seen as weak and loses clients. Unfortunately, the true strength of a shinobi can only be born through life-threatening battle." Sarutobi paused to let this sink into the Genin. "Now for the rules of the third test." He would have continued if some coughing had not interrupted him.

"Actually…cough…Hokage-sama, as the proctor for the third…cough…test, I should continue from…cough…here," Said a Tokubetsu Jounin with a sword on his back, signifying that he specialized in Kenjutsu.

"By all means Hayate."

"Hello everyone I'm Gekkou Hayate. I'll be the proctor for…cough…the third part of the Exam." Hayate said as he stood in front of the Genin, who all thought that Hayate should be on his death bed judging from his looks. In actuality Hayate was perfectly healthy. He was just born with a small bronchial problem that developed into a mild cough later in life. His looks could be attributed to the make-up he wore to make himself look sick, so he would be underestimated. "Before we…cough…can hold the third test we will have to hold…cough…a preliminary round. This…cough…is to determine who gets to…cough…participate in the main event." These words caused a number of the Genin to become disgruntled, especially Shikamaru who did not want to do the extra work implied by these words.

"Excuse me, but why aren't we all allowed to participate?" Sakura asked the question on a number of Genin's mind.

"Since the third test will be observed by…cough…numerous people we must make sure that it is…cough…carried out within a specific time table. This is why we…cough…must hold the preliminaries immediately." This made the Genin even more disgruntled, but they knew that since they all had time to rest, they weren't being treated unfairly. "So, anyone that does not feel up to fighting…cough…please step forward now."

At these words one silver haired, glasses wearing Genin stepped forward to drop out of the Exam, confusing two members of team 7 and causing the third orange wearing one to just glare suspiciously at the boy.

"Hmmm…You're Yakushi Kabuto of the Leaf?" Hayate asked as he reviewed a file handed to him from a Chuunin. "All right, you may go. Does anyone else wish to quit?" He asked waiting to see if any other Genin would leave the competitions.

No one else raised their hands to signify their desire to quit participating, but only Hayate and some of the Chuunin were paying attention to that. The Hokage and Anko were having a quiet discussion about how this was the second time Kabuto had made it to the finals of the Chuunin Exam before quitting, his lower than average number of missions, his average grades at the academy, and more than ordinary past concerning the battle at Bellflower Pass.

"Well, if no one else wishes to quit, then…cough…it's time to start the preliminaries." Hayate stated. "The…cough…preliminaries will consist of one on one fights, held…cough…in ten individual matches. There are no rules and the fight ends when…cough…one of the fighters forfeits, is knocked out, or dies. However, I can stop the match whenever I feel that…cough…there is a clear winner." The sword wielding shinobi explained. As Hayate explained the rules, Anko spoke into a radio causing a wall panel to slide away to reveal a large electronic scoreboard. "This board will randomly select the fighters for each match, and the first fighters are…"

**Abumi Zaku VS. Akimichi Chouji**

"HURRAY! LADY LUCK IS ON MY SIDE TODAY!!" Shouted an excited Akimichi, who was eager for another chance at revenge.

Zaku was cursing his own luck at having to deal with Chouji again, and it did not help that he had both of his arms in slings. "Aaah…Kami! Why did I have to get paired with that fatass?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!? I TOLD YOU I'M NOT FAT! I'M BIG BONED!!"

Shikamaru just sighed at his friend's antics. "Man this is troublesome. That sound-nin should have just dropped out. He won't be able do much with his arms like that."

"Now, we will be starting the first match…cough. Will everyone but the participants…cough…please move to the upper level." Said Hayate as he indicated towards the stairs along the wall.

--

(On the Balcony)

"Ha Ha! This will be easy for Chouji! There is no way that Zaku guy could win in his condition!" Ino gloated up in the stands.

"It would be illogical to assume that Chouji will be the winner, even with the Oto shinobi's apparent handicap." Spoke the quite voice of Aburame Shino from the back of the balcony as he leaned against the wall. "Since he did not drop out with his arms like that, then it is only logical to assume that he must have a plan to compensate."

--

In the arena the two Genin eyed each other, waiting for the proctor to start the match.

"First Match: Abumi Zaku vs. Akimichi Chouji Begin!" Shouted Hayate jumping out of the way since he knew what happened to those that insulted an Akimichi's weight.

No sooner were the words said then Chouji made the hand seals for his family jutsu. "**Baika no Jutsu **(Multi-size technique), **Nikusha **(Meat Tank)." With that the large boy became even larger and began spinning a an incredible speed heading straight for the sound-nin.

Zaku countered by removing his arms from their slings, revealing that he could use them, and fired his favorite jutsu. "**Zankuuha** (Decapitating Air Waves)," however his arms were still strained from his fight with Sasuke and he couldn't put as much power into the jutsu as he normally would.

What happened next was essentially a repeat of the fight in the Forest of Death, only this time Chouji was not thrown into the air as high. This meant that his descent was shorter and took less time, so Zaku could not dodge again as he was planning. With a loud wham, the human boulder that was Chouji crashed into Zaku breaking the humerus bone in his arm, two ribs, and fracturing the tibia in the leg, as well as leaving a small 4 inch deep crater in the arena floor.

Hayate came over to check the fighters' condition as Chouji shrank and moved away from the crater he made. Seeing that Zaku not only had broken bones but was unconscious made his decision as a proctor clear. "Winner: Akimichi Chouji!" He exclaimed.

--

"Alright Chouji! Way to go!" Ino shouted as her teammate came up to the balcony, while the medics carried Zaku away. "Ha! See Shino I told you it would be an easy win for Chouji!"

"I never said that he would not win, only that it would be illogical to assume he would." Stated the stoic boy. "In the shinobi world making assumptions based on appearance can be dangerous. 

Abumi-san proved that when he revealed that his arms were not useless, an assumption that could have cost anyone else their life."

"Well I am still proud of him, and I congratulate Chouji on his excellence performance." Said Asuma, giving his student a pat on the back while handing him a bag of chips.

"Thanks Asuma-sensei!" Said Chouji as he happily started munching on his favorite snack. He had to forgo indulging himself with this snack for several days because of the Exam.

"Quiet! The next fighters are being picked!" Shouted Inuzuka Kiba anxious for his fight.

**Aburame Shino VS. Sabaku no Kankurou **

"All right, looks like it's my turn to beat on some leaf brats." Stated a calm Kankurou.

"Kankurou, don't take this fight lightly," admonished his instructor Baki.

Kankurou just smirked as he hopped over the railing. "Yeah yeah…whatever you say sensei."

Hinata watched as her teammate calmly walked down the stairs to the arena floor. "D-Do you think-k that-t Shino-kun will-l b-be alright-t?" She asked her remaining teammate.

"Like you need to ask Hinata. Shino's strong. He is one guy I never want to fight." Answered her other teammate Kiba, who for once did not have his trademark grin.

--

Shino and Kankurou stared at each other as they waited for the proctor to start the match.

"Fighters, are you ready?" Asked Hayate.

"Yeah, just get on with it." Said Kankurou who had been waiting for a good fight.

Shino merely offered his hand to his opponent, who looked at it questioningly. "In a friendly competition such as the Chuunin Exam, it is only polite to wish one's opponent luck for the upcoming match."

Kankurou snorted, "Like I need luck," he stated as he shook Shino's hand.

"Alright, Second Match: Aburame Shino vs. Sabaku no Kankurou Begin!" Declared Hayate.

"Heh…I hope that you put up a good fight." Kankurou said as he took of the large wrapped bundle from his back and stood it up next to him.

Shino just stared at him for several seconds before replying. "I will give you this one chance to surrender. It would be wise of you to take the offer since I already have the advantage of having you surrounded."

Kankurou couldn't help but look around confused. "Surrounded? What are you talking about…" His voice trailed off as he saw the swarms of insects that emerged from the shadows of the balcony and spread out to cover his right, left, and backside, while Shino took his front.

"These are the Kikaichuu (Destruction Bugs) that my clan utilizes. The Kikaichuu is a beetle that swarms their prey and consumes their chakra. I started releasing them when we were told that we would be participating in one on one fights, in preparation for my match."

--

"Wooaahh! Kakashi-sensei, where did Shino get all those bugs?" Asked Naruto voicing the question on the majority of the Genin's mind.

Kakashi took the time to look up from his copy of Icha Icha Paradise, although he was actually watching the match, to answer. "Well Naruto, the Aburame are a clan of insect handlers, and while they are known to make use of numerous species they are most famous for their Kikaichuu which they have formed a symbiotic relationship with. Whenever someone in the Aburame clan is born a contract is made that allows them to command the Kikaichuu for whatever purpose the clan needs. In exchange the Kikaichuu are allowed to nest within the bodies of the Aburame and feed on their chakra."

Sakura looked up at this slightly disturbed at that last part. "Wait…do you mean that they actually have bugs living inside them?"

"That's precisely what he means," said Hyuuga Neji, turning everyone's attention towards himself showing he had his Byakugan activated. "I can see dozens of insects residing and moving within his body. No doubt the hundreds that now surround the Suna Genin are also part of his personal swarm."

Suffice it to say that some of the Genin, specifically Ino and Sakura, were feeling a little ill at hearing this. However two Genin felt a form of kinship with the Aburame for possessing something that lived within them as they did. Although one of those Genin would not hesitate for a second from killing every Aburame to prove his existence.

"No offence, but that is just…ewww." Said Sakura.

"Well as disturbing as it might seem to you, it has allowed the Aburame clan to become known as one of the greatest clans in Konoha, and the strongest insect handlers in the world." Said the ever pragmatic Kakashi.

--

Back in the arena Kankurou was trying to figure a way out of this little predicament.

"As I said before, it would be wise to forfeit. Even if you attack in two directions, you will be assaulted from your undefended sides."

Kankurou smirked. "So attacking in two directions will get me attacked huh? Well what if I attack in four directions?" He asked as he dropped his bundle while two extra arms sprouted from his clothes, ripping the disguise revealing a three eyed, four armed puppet wearing a tattered black cloak. The puppet, Karasu, extended its four arms towards the Kikaichuu, and opened to reveal hidden launchers that fired poison packets that exploded and released poison gas that drove the bugs back. At the same time its mouth opened and fired four poison covered kunai at Shino, catching him in the abdomen and arms.

Once that was over, an arm ripped out of the bundle wrappings and unwound the rest to reveal Kankurou. "Heh, guess you never faced one of Suna's Puppeteers before," he said with a gleeful smirk as he continued to manipulate the puppet with Chakra strings attached to one of his hands.

His joy was short lived as he saw Shino dissolve into a mass of bugs, "What!?"

"It would have been illogical to assume that you would not find a way out of my trap." Came the stoic voice of Shino as he stepped out of the shadows of the balcony. "So I kept a number of my Kikaichuu in reserve to make a Mushi Bunshin (Insect Clone) that I kept hidden to perform a Kawarimi with."

Kankurou was livid that some leaf-nin had out-tricked him, and tried to have Karasu fire more of its projectiles at the boy, only to have his puppet collapse into a useless heap on the ground. "What the hell!?" He shouted as he reattached the chakra strings, only to feel them grow weaker.

"If you are wondering what happened to your puppet, the answer is that I had placed several of my Kikaichuu on it when we shook hands. Of course I did not know it was a puppet and thought that you would not notice because of your gloves and black clothing," explained the Aburame. "The Kikaichuu that I placed on you puppet have had enough time to find the chakra you are using to control it, and consume enough of it for you to lose control. Oh, and you will find that unless your poison contains ingredients that can only be found in the forests around Konoha, it will have no effect on the Kikaichuu. Now it is time to finish this match." Shino raised his right arm and the insects swarmed up Kankurou's body and began draining him of chakra. Once he felt that they drained enough chakra, Shino recalled his insects back inside his body. "Proctor, it would be wise to end the match. I did not take enough chakra that it would threaten his life, but he will be unconscious for a while with chakra exhaustion."

Hayate checked Kankurou's condition and determined that Shino was right. "Winner: Aburame Shino!

--

"I can't believe he lost to some leaf Genin." Muttered Temari as she watched her teammate and brother get carried away to the tower's medic station.

"Kankurou lost because he wasn't taking the fight seriously," stated her sensei Baki. "He didn't think that there would be any Genin from Konoha that could challenge him. Because of his attitude he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, allowing the bugs to sneak up on him. He is just lucky that this won't affect the plan."

While the team from Suna was discussing the match, the next fighters were selected.

**Haruno Sakura VS. Yamanaka Ino**

Upon seeing the names, Kakashi put away his book so that he could pay better attention to the fight, not that he wasn't already paying close attention to the fights but he is taken more seriously without the little orange book. "Are you going to be alright Sakura?" He asked his pink haired student, aware of her past with the Yamanaka.

"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei. I'll be fine," she assured him as she walked down to the arena.

--

Ino watched her opponent as she stood across from her and began the somewhat traditional trash talk. "I hope you're ready to lose Forehead girl. And when you do Sasuke-kun will be all mine!" She exclaimed, hoping to anger her rival for the Uchiha's affection.

"I'm not fighting you for Sasuke this time Ino." The pink haired girl calmly stated.

"Huh?"

Sakura took off her hitai-ate and retied it around her forehead. "I intend for this to be a true fight between kunoichi." She told her blond rival.

"So that's how you want to do it, huh?" Ino commented as she took off the hitai-ate she had been wearing as a belt and tied it around her own forehead.

"Third Match: Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino Begin!"

The two girls rushed at each other to start a battle of Taijutsu. Sakura managed to catch Ino off guard when she applied the basics of the tree climbing exercise by putting just enough chakra to the soles of her feet to explode forward at an increased speed and punched Ino in the jaw. Ino rolled with the punch and came back with one of her own that got Sakura in the chest, only to be caught and kneed in the stomach by Sakura. The two kunoichi continued their fight in a similar fashion for several minutes showing a considerable amount of skill in the Taijutsu taught in the academy that taught basic offensive, defensive, and combination moves that form the basis of more advanced Taijutsu styles. After both girls took a particularly nasty punch to the jaws they backed several feet apart, from there they stared as they each needed to recover from the heavy breathing that resulted from the contest.

"Heh…I thought that you were going to fight me like a real kunoichi Forehead." Ino taunted.

"It's not over yet Ino-pig." Sakura shot back as he made a Hitsuji (Ram) seal. "**Bunshin no Jutsu** (Clone technique)," she called as she made four Bunshins appear around her.

Ino snorted as she watched the five Sakuras charge her. "Please Sakura, this isn't the Genin exam." Ino pulled out two kunai that she threw at two of the fakes, causing them to dispel, and then used her analytical abilities to pick out the real one from the amongst the two remaining clones. Ino timed it just right before she sent round house kick that caught the real Sakura in the head and sent her flying. "Sorry Sakura, but it looks like you weren't ready for a real fight." She whispered as she looked over her fallen former friend.

"AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!"

"AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!"

Ino turned towards the two screams of pain in the balcony and saw one of her worst nightmares. The two remaining Oto Genin had stabbed several kunai into Chouji's and Shikamaru's back. The kunai were in deep and the boys were losing a lot of blood. She would have screamed in horror if her mind had not caught the fact that not only was Asuma-sensei's face blank, but everyone else acted as if they had not noticed and were continuing to watch the match. Then it clicked, '_Genjutsu!_' Ino brought her hands into the Hitsuji seal and shouted, "KAI," and flared her chakra to dispel the illusion.

No sooner was she free from the illusion, she was struck in the temple just hard enough to cause disorientation. Then ninja wire was wrapped around her, pinning her arms and legs together. And finally a kunai was brought to her throat.

"Now its over," said the pink haired kunoichi that held the kunai.

Hayate decided now was a good time to step in. "Since it is obvious that Haruno-san could have killed Yamanaka-san, I declare Haruno Sakura the Winner!"

--

Up in the stands Yuuhi Kurenai, the 'Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha' was impressed at how the match was decided. "Hey Kakashi," she called over to the silver haired sensei of team 7, "what did you teach that girl?"

Kakashi looked up to the female Jounin from his recently retrieved book. "Well, her school file stated that she had potential in the field of Genjutsu so I decided that that would be good choice to teach. She had trouble at first dealing with the Genjutsu I put her in, but she eventually got the hang of it. I believe the one she used on Ino was a modified version of the Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion Hell Viewing Technique). Normally when used it will cause the victim to see something akin to a nightmare, such as the death of a comrade. However anyone with skill in Genjutsu can figure out it's an illusion, and because of the small amount of chakra needed for the technique to work, it is relatively easy to dispel." Kakashi explained. "Because Sakura isn't capable of creating her own Genjutsu yet, she decided to try modifying one she already knew. First she created the Bunshin to distract Ino so she would not notice Sakura making the Hebi seal. Then, once she is in the illusion, Ino will see something that she wants to see, such as knocking out Sakura. Since it was something she wanted to happen it's doubtful that she will notice the Genjutsu. That's when the normal nightmare part kicks in and where most people will realize the trap in the first place. By that time, Sakura will have had enough time to prepare something, such as the use of the ninja wire to bind Ino. All in all, it is quite the crafty trick."

Kurenai was impressed at the cleverness and simplicity of Sakura's Genjutsu. Most Genin and even some more experienced shinobi wouldn't think twice of checking for an illusion when they see something good happen. Her musings stopped when she saw the names on the board slow down to a stop.

The next fighters are….

--

Author's notes: Cliffhanger! Sorry guys. I know that this is about 2,000 words shorter than the last two chapters but I really wanted to get chapter 4 posted before I devoted my time to college work. If I didn't then you would not see this chapter till June, maybe late June since I have to go to Texas for my sister's college graduation. Well on to more interesting topics.

THE POLLS ARE CLOSED! THE OFFICIAL PAIRING FOR THIS STORY IS NARUTO AND HINATA! I know that will make some people upset, but I have my reasons. First and foremost Naru/Hina is probably my favorite pairing so I know how Hinata fans react when they don't get together. Second there were by far more votes for Hinata over every other girl. In fact if I combine the votes every other girl got, they would tie with Hinata. Finally most people who hate Naru/Hina, hate it because there are so many of those 'Naruto suddenly loves Hinata and hates Sakura' stories. Personally I hate those too and that is not how this will turn out, nor will their love be perfect in every single detail. Maybe I should explain it like the author of 'Of Vixens and Kitsune'. Naruto has had a lonely childhood; his crush on Sakura is based on the fact that she is, by his standards, pretty and that she would pay a form of attention to him. Hinata grew up in an overbearing "royal" household that bases a person's worth on where they were born and how skilled they are at fighting. Even though she is the heiress and is supposed to be the strongest, she is considered weaker than her branch house cousin and her younger sister, her father, intentionally or not, degrades her abilities, and she feels guilt over the death of her Uncle and the Kumo Shinobi that kidnapped her. Naruto is the only one she knows who might have a worse life then hers, yet he never gave up. Despite his hardships he perseveres in the hopes of achieving his dreams of becoming the strongest Hokage, and receive the acknowledgement of 

the people. Naruto is the epitome of what Hinata wants to be, he is her inspiration to live the life of a ninja. That is what her crush is based on. But what makes her crush closer to actual love is the fact that she is willing to acknowledge his imperfections. She just considers them minor compared to his good points. And as I said before, do not expect any real romance until the Shippudan timeline when they are fifteen and their hormones have settled down.

And I bet none of you were expecting me to change the fight lineup, then join the club. It was sort of a spur of the moment thing. I have already decided who is going to fight whom and who will win. I also have some ideas on how to make some fights more interesting. I will warn you that apart from the Sakura/Ino fight three other matchups will be the same for plot purposes, but that doesn't mean the fights will be the same.

Also you guys have no doubt figured out one major change I made in this story. Kakashi can actually teach. I checked the official timeline and there were like 6 months between the Genin Exam and the Chuunin Exam. That's five months between the Wave arc and the Exam arc. I have a hard time believing that in all that time team 7 did not gain any new skills beyond tree climbing. And if there are people out there that say that he spent the time training Sasuke then I feel compelled to mention how everything Sasuke used during the Chuunin Exam were things that he probably got from the Uchiha library, and second Sasuke had a huge difference in skill and chakra after one month of real training with. How strong would he have been if they had spent 6 months like that? Nope, when it comes to canon Kakashi I just believe he can't teach.

And the reason Sakura did not use her Genjutsu in the Forest of Death is because she was tired and I wanted to surprise my readers.

One last thing. As a special spoiler in chapter five I will start to reveal the abilities and changes in Naruto's seals

**Please Read and Review**. In my opinion constructive criticism is always welcome, but it has to have a suggestion for improvement to be considered constructive. And Don't bother trying to flame me about my pairing choice, just stop reading.


	5. Preliminaries Continued

**The Kitsune Seal**

**Disclaimer:** (Music for Camptown Races starts playing) "OOOHH, I Don't Own Naruto…Do Da Do Da…If I Did Then I'd Be Rich…All The Do Da Daaayyy!" "Thank you; you have been a wonderful audience" (gazes out at several squirrels sitting on lawn chairs eating nuts).

"Hello" - Speaking

'_Hello_' - Thoughts

"**Hello**" - **Demon/Boss Summon Speaking/Jutsu**

'_**Hello**_' - **Demon/Boss Summon Thoughts**Chapter 5 – Preliminaries Continued

* * *

"AARRGGGHHH! How could I have lost to Forehead girl!?" Shouted an irate Yamanaka Ino, causing quite a bit of discomfort to her teammates and sensei.

To endure her tantrum at her defeat, each male went back to doing several of their favorite things.

Asuma took a long drag on his cancer stick, also known as a cigarette (I hate cigarettes and smoking in general).

Chouji continued munching on the chips Asuma gave him.

Shikamaru kept running his mantra of '_Troublesome woman_' over and over in his head. And if Shikamaru was a normal person, that would have been all he was doing. But, as a closet genius with an IQ of over 200, he was capable of thinking numerous complex thoughts and plans in the span of seconds, and right now his thoughts were focused on team 7. The only time Sakura had ever beaten Ino before was on the written tests back at the academy. If she had improved this much, then how strong was Sasuke (he figured Naruto would never be a threat)? His musings continued as the next fighters were selected.

**Akadou Yoroi VS. Kinuta Dosu**

Both Genin simply nodded to their respective teams as they calmly walked down the stairs to the arena.

* * *

On the arena floor the two shinobi glared at each other as they waited for Hayate to begin the match.

"So I got stuck fighting some brat huh? This should be an easy win." Stated the much older Yoroi.

Dosu's one visible eye narrowed at his opponent's confidence. "You may not be the one I desire to fight, but I will take pleasure in beating you into the ground."

"I'd like to see you try kid."

"All right," said Hayate as he stepped in. "Fourth Match: Akadou Yoroi vs. Kinuta Dosu Begin!"

With the match started Yoroi began with text book move by throwing several shuriken he quickly snatched from his pouch. This maneuver would serve as a distraction for Dosu while Yoroi prepared something in his left hand as he got closer to him.

Dosu quickly countered the shuriken by using his Melody Arm to deflect them in random directions, one of which almost hitting his opponent if the older boy had not dodged. Unfortunately, Yoroi had seen the metal apparatus and expected Dosu to do that, so he had several more shuriken prepared and threw those. This time Dosu was forced to dodged, and in his moment of distraction Yoroi managed to move in close enough to kick Dosu's legs out from beneath him. Before he knew it, Dosu was on his back with Yoroi's glowing hand on his chest.

"What the Hell is going on!?" Dosu shouted as he felt his strength start to leave him.

"Heh heh…This is a special ability I have been working on. With this jutsu I can drain you of your chakra as long as my palm is on your body." Explained Yoroi, as he continued with his unusual jutsu.

Dosu groaned as he felt more chakra leave his body. "So I guess I have to finish this quick." Before Yoroi could respond, the Oto shinobi lifted the arm with his weapon and slammed it back into the ground.

"AAAAHHHHH!!" Screamed Yoroi, as he backed away from the sound-nin, using his hands to cover his ears.

Using this opportunity, Dosu rushed forward and slammed his fist into Yoroi's skull, sending large amounts of controlled sound waves through the inner ear, and ripping it to shreds from the vibrations. "So how do you like my Kyoumeisan (Vibrating Sound Drill)?" He inquired as he watched the Konoha Shinobi fall unconscious with blood dripping from his ears and nose.

Hayate stepped forward and checked the downed shinobi's vitals, determining that Yoroi was alive, if barely. "Winner: Kinuta Dosu!"

* * *

'_So that is how the sound-nin fights._' Mused Neji as he shut off his Byakugan, having seen how Dosu used his chakra to control the path of the sound waves. '_It's no wonder why Lee lost._' He thought as he turned towards his green clad teammate, who was proclaiming to Gai and Tenten about how he would not lose the next time he and the sound-nin fought. _'Both are close range _

_fighters, but Dosu's attacks don't even need to hit to be disabling. The only way to stop him is to attack from a distance, be fast enough to take him out before he can attack, or to disable his ability to use chakra._' The Hyuuga prodigy grinned, '_meaning his attacks are useless against a Hyuuga. But it's not his fight I desire to see._' Neji thought as he turned his head towards the two male members of team 7. '_When they fight, I will be able to determine the strength of that strange chakra._' Turning his attention back to the scoreboard he grinned as he saw the names upon it.

**Inuzuka Kiba VS. Uzumaki Naruto**

"All Right! It's finally my turn!" Naruto gleefully yelled while leaping off of the balcony.

"WHOOHOOO!! Man are we lucky Akamaru, getting paired with the dead last! This fight will be like an instant pass to the next round!" Shouted Kiba as he jumped over the railing.

Kurenai smirked as she turned to the sliver haired sensei of team 7. "Sorry Kakashi, but it looks like another one of my students will be passing the preliminaries." She said in a rather smug voice.

Kakashi, who had put his book away since another of his students was fighting, gave the sensei of team 8 one of his lazy stares as he asked. "Oh, really? Why is that?"

"Well, I mean no disrespect to your teaching skills, especially after seeing what you did with Sakura. But, the gap between Naruto and Kiba has always been too great for Naruto to pass, and no matter what you taught him that will never change." Kurenai explained.

He might not have looked it on the outside, but Kakashi was a little angry with what his fellow Jounin said about his student. But, as a good shinobi he kept calm and started to analyze the situation, and maybe he could use it to his advantage. "All right then, since you're so confident, how about a little wager?"

The red eyed kunoichi Jounin blinked in surprise at the request. "What kind of wager?" She asked, more than a little suspicious at the scarecrow like Jounin.

"Oh, just that if Kiba loses you and your team has to pay for dinner at a restaurant of Naruto's choosing. And if Naruto loses, my team and I have to pay for dinner at a restaurant of Kiba's choosing." Stated Kakashi.

Kurenai thought for a moment before saying, "If my team accepts, then so do I." She turned to Shino and Hinata to get their answers. Shino gave a brief nod, while Hinata stuttered a quick yes, her face as bright as a tomato at the thought of having dinner with Naruto. "All right Kakashi, I accept your terms." Kurenai said.

"Excellent!" Said the Copy-nin happily has he shook hands with team 8's sensei. "So, out of curiosity, what did you teach Kiba? Some of your Genjutsu perhaps?" He asked as he brought his gaze over to Kiba to study him.

Since there was no way Kakashi could use the information to help his student win, Kurenai decided to indulge the man. "No, I haven't taught him Genjutsu. Kiba doesn't have the patience or the control for it." She stated causing Kakashi to give an internal sigh of relief. "Mostly, I have been refining his skill in the Inuzuka fighting style, both Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. That and how to effectively use those in a team with non-Inuzuka members."

"Hmmm…If that's the case, then Naruto is one of the best possible opponents for Kiba." Said Kakashi, his right eye becoming an upside down U the only indication that he was smiling.

"What!?" Kurenai and several other of the Shinobi in attendance almost shouted when they heard Kakashi say that.

"Um…Kakashi-sensei, what kind of style does the Inuzuka use?" Queried Sakura, curious as to why it would make a difference to when fighting Naruto.

"Well Sakura, the Inuzuka is a clan that specializes in tracking and training Nin-dogs, such as Akamaru. When fighting, they mostly use Taijutsu enhanced by their clan Ninjutsu. But what makes them truly dangerous is how they never fight alone and always have at least one Nin-dog supporting them, making any fight against them two against one. So all members of the Inuzuka clan are trained in a way that makes teamwork second nature to them." Kakashi said.

"Hn…If that's the case, sensei, then the dobe already has two advantages against Kiba." Said Sasuke, who had figured out what the Jounin had implied.

Kurenai scowled at hearing how team 7 was expecting Kiba to lose, even though their teammate was supposed to be the weakest Genin there. "Care to enlighten us of those advantages?" She asked the Uchiha.

Giving one of his patented smirks Sasuke said, "I'll keep the first one to myself. But, the second one should be obvious to every shinobi here. Kiba is underestimating Naruto, based on old information, and in this case old information is worse than no information."

* * *

Down in the arena Kiba was thanking his lucky star for what he thought was going to be an easy match. "Heh heh…And here I was worried that I would have to fight someone really tough, but I end up with the weakest guy here. Man, Kami must be smiling on me today." He gloated.

"Shut up Dog-breath, or else I'll neuter you before I put you down." Akamaru barked at this inappropriate, for a dog, statement, causing Naruto to stop and blink for a second. "Hey ref!" He called. "Is it legal for him to use the puppy?"

"Nin-dogs are considered legal shinobi tools just like any kunai, shuriken, or Aburame-san's insects." Hayate replied.

"Heh…You don't need to worry about Akamaru here. I'll beat you before I could need him." Stated Kiba, sending Akamaru off his head and to the sidelines.

Hayate took the opportunity to start the match. "Fifth Match: Inuzuka Kiba vs. Uzumaki Naruto Begin!"

Kiba started off by making a Tora seal and shouting, "**Ninpo: Shikyaku no Jutsu** (Ninja Art: Four-legged Technique)." The already feral Inuzuka became even wilder has he dropped to ground, looking like some sort of animal. "You're going down Uzumaki," he said as he charged towards the blond with a speed that could only be described of as fast.

Putting all of his weight into the reckless charge, Kiba sent a powerful elbow thrust into Naruto's gut. The blow would have been enough to send Naruto flying back if he hadn't used his chakra to stick to the floor. As it was the blonde Jinchuuriki merely doubled over from the hit, but he was in the perfect position to take full advantage of the numerous openings Kiba had in his style. Naruto first rammed his knee into Kiba's own gut, and then he sent one of his strongest punches straight into the other boy's face, having enough force to knock the Inuzuka back several feet.

"Heh…Is that all you got Kiba? I've fought grannies that hit harder than you," taunted Naruto with his foxy smirk. That smirk lasted till he felt a sharp pain on his leg, "YEEEOOOWWWWCCCHHH," which would be Akamaru taking biting him on the leg. "Leggo of my leg you damn mutt!" Shouted Naruto as he swung his leg around trying to free himself of the dog.

* * *

Up on the balcony a particular Snake Sannin was viewing the match with a small smirk. '_As amusing as this is Naruto-kun, it's time to see how my seal affected you._' He thought as he made a discreet half-Tora seal to make the Curse Seal react, despite the Fuuja Houin placed over it.

* * *

Deep within Naruto's mind, where the cage of the greatest Bijuu stood, a pulse of sickly purple chakra started crawling along the walls, and drawing the attention of the massive Kitsune that resided in the cage.

"**So, the little snake human is trying to assert his control over the seal. Heh heh heh…Unfortunately for him the seal is no longer his, and is now trespassing in my territory.**"

The Kyuubi sent his own demonic chakra out and pushed the invading power away, along the path it took to get there and right back to its originator.

* * *

Orochimaru hissed in pain as his hand started to burn and he stopped the jutsu he was using. Giving a furtive glance to his side, he made sure that no one noticed what he did and began to 

ponder what happened. '_It seems my theory was right. The Kyuubi did make changes to my seal, but what?_' He asked himself. _"Kukukuku…I can't wait to get my hands on the boy and study it. It could be the key I need to perfect my Curse Seal._'

* * *

While Naruto was 'dancing' with Akamaru, Kiba used the distraction to his advantage. "Hey Dobe!" He called, catching Naruto's attention in the split second before he delivered a round-house kick and sent the blonde Genin tumbling into the wall creating a large crater and massive dust cloud.

"Heh…The dobe made me work a bit more than I thought he would, but there is no way he is getting up from that." Kiba exclaimed. "Hey Ref! You might want to call the match." He said as he began walking away. Kiba stopped when a familiar voice from the dust.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to underestimate me Dog-breath!? Not only will I beat you, I'll beat anyone else in this exam, make Chuunin, and be one step closer to being Hokage! Believe It!!" Proclaimed Uzumaki Naruto as his slightly bloody form became visible.

Growling in irritation, Kiba retorted. "That's big talk coming from the guy whose bleeding," he said remarking about the small head wound Naruto got when he hit the wall. "Get real Naruto! Akamaru has a better chance of being Hokage then you ever will."

Naruto's eyes became cold and hard at Kiba's words. No one insulted his dream. No one. "I'm going to make you eat those words Kiba." He said as he got ready to fight.

"Is that so?" Kiba said with a sneer. Reaching into his pouch Kiba withdrew a small red pill. "Let's go Akamaru!" He shouted as he threw the solider pill to the dog while leaning over.

Akamaru ate the solider pill, making his white fur turn red, and leaped onto his masters back.

"**Juujin Bunshin** (Beast-Man Clone)!" Kiba shouted before a puff of smoke covered him. In a second the smoke cleared, revealing two feral looking Kibas, looking like they wanted to rip their opponent limb from limb.

"So you guys like two against one huh? Then I'll do this." Naruto made three hand seals ending on Ne (rat). Then he separated the hand seal, keeping one half Ne seal at his chin and raising the other above his head while saying the name of his jutsu. "**Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu** (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique)." Suddenly a thick bank of mist formed in the room, obstructing everyone's vision unless they have the Byakugan.

* * *

"Kakashi!" Kurenai almost shouted as she looked towards the one-eyed Jounin, despite the fact that she couldn't see him. "How does Naruto know one of Kirigakure's signature jutsu?"

Despite his best efforts, the Copy-nin couldn't keep the smugness, and happiness at putting his Icha Icha Paradise away before the moisture could have ruined it, out of his voice. "Oh this? We ran into a little trouble on our mission to Wave. The missing-nin Momochi Zabuza," the other Jounin gasped at the name of the 'Demon of the Mist,' "I and my team fought him and his apprentice. During the fight I copied several of his jutsu, including the Kirigakure jutsu. Since it's such a useful technique, I decided to teach it to my students. Right now, Naruto is the closest to using it to its full potential, even if he can't do the silent killing technique." It couldn't be seen but each member of team 7 had little smirks on their faces. And one particular Oto shinobi unconsciously licked his lips.

Kurenai was miffed at Kakashi's smugness, but had to give Naruto some credit for pulling off such an unexpected move. But, she had to also feel a sense of her own smugness at her student's abilities. "As impressive as this mist is Kakashi, it won't take an Inuzuka like Kiba long to find him."

Unseen to anyone else, Kakashi eye-smiled while saying. "We'll see, but knowing Naruto, the 'Number One, Most Surprising, Hyperactive Shinobi,' he has some trick up his sleeve."

* * *

'_Damn it!_' Thought Kiba. '_Fighting blind is one thing, but there's enough moisture in the air to wash out his scent. Akamaru could probably sniff him out, but I can barely see him. Looks like I'll have to find him by sound._' Kiba closed his eyes as he focused his hearing, waiting for the blond to make a sound. The sound of footsteps coming from his right reached his ears. '_There!_' He thought and was about to attack when he heard several more footsteps coming from the left. '_What!? Was that Akamaru? No, he's behind me. It can't be some kind of Bunshin, Naruto sucks at clones. Then what…_' He cut his thoughts short as several more footsteps came from right in front of him. '_What the Hell is going on!?_' The dog boy almost screamed in his head.

After using the Kirigakure jutsu, Naruto had made several shadow clones that were now wandering around, setting up his plan. It was no big deal if Kiba got to these clones and destroyed them because they were just a distraction. While they did their job, Naruto climbed up the wall and onto the ceiling where he created a thirteen more clones. Half of the Narutos Henged into a kunai that was picked up by the other half. Now all they had to do was wait.

Back on the ground Kiba was getting annoyed. And when he is annoyed he is rash. "That's it! Akamaru start attacking anything that moves!" He shouted as they both leapt up and used one of the strongest Inuzuka attacks. "**Gatsuuga **(Duel Piercing Fang)!" Both Kiba and Akamaru began spinning like two massive drills, seeking any sound they heard.

One by one each clone was destroyed, with Kiba and Akamaru barely missing hitting each other. Finally they both converged on the last shadow clone, hitting the clone and the wall behind it at the same time, activating the flash tag placed there.

Naruto smirked when he saw the flash and released his mist jutsu. Giving a mental command he and each clone threw their kunai at the stunned forms of Kiba and Akamaru. Half way there, each kunai transformed back into a Naruto. Three clones attacked Akamaru, forcing the release 

of the Juujin Bunshin jutsu, while the other four rammed into Kiba. Before he knew it, Kiba was thrown into the air where the original met him with a drop kick to the gut, sending Kiba flying to the ground and knocking him out.

Hayate appeared next to him to check his vitals, determined he was alive, and let the medic-nins take him away with Akamaru following, and declared. "Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

"YATTA!!" The boy shouted as he made his way up the stairs.

* * *

Neji turned off his Byakugan in annoyance. Not once in the entire fight did Naruto use the red chakra. This told the Hyuuga that either Naruto did not know how to use it, or he felt no need. This left him with more questions than he had at the beginning of the match, and Neji hated that. His teammate and sensei however had a different opinion on the fight.

"YOSH! NARUTO'S FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY SHOWING THE POWER HARD WORK HAS GIVEN HIM. I WILL SHOW IN MY MATCH THAT MY FLAMES BURN JUST AS BRIGHTLY, AND IF I CANNOT I WILL DO TWO HUNDRED PUSHUPS. AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT I WILL DO 300 SQUATS. AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT I SHALL SCALE THE HOKAGE MOUNTAIN ONE HUNDRED TIMES!!" Lee proclaimed, which got Gai excited.

"YOSH! LEE, YOUR WILLINGNESS AND DEDICATION TO HONOR MY RIVAL'S STUDENT'S IMPRESSIVE FLAMES BY MATCHING IT, IS THE VERY EPITOME OF THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!! IF YOU SHOULD FIND YOURSELF UNABLE TO COMPLETE YOUR CHALLENGE, THEN I SHALL DO FIVE HUNDRED PUNCHES. AND, IF I CAN'T DO THAT I SHALL DO ONE THOUSAND KICKS. AND IF I CAN'T DO THAT I SHALL SWIM BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE LAND OF WAVES AND THE LAND OF WATER THREE TIMES!! Proclaimed the green spandex wearing Jounin. This lead to one of the most unusual sights in Konoha.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

That's right. The infamous Springtime of Youth Genjutsu. A vision of the ocean and the setting sun that appeared whenever Gai and Lee started one of their highly emotional hugs. Everyone in the immediate vicinity either turned away to avoid the sight, or tried to break the illusion. 

Despite their best efforts nothing affected it. Seriously, how did a Genin that can't use Genjutsu and a Jounin that is only mediocre at best, create an illusion that can even stump the Hokage and one of the Sannin?

Meanwhile, Kakashi decided to have some fun has he brought his book back out.

"So Kurenai," he said in a mild conversational voice. "What was that about there being too great a gap for Naruto to cross?"

Kurenai, as well as Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, and Asuma, was slacked jawed at the sight of one of the strongest Genin getting beat by the academy dead last. Getting control of her mouth back Kurenai muttered, "What…how…"

Kakashi chuckled a little at the sight. "That's Naruto for you. Right when you think you've got him figured he catches you off guard with a stunt like this. Oh and about our bet. I hope you like ramen, Naruto always chooses to eat at the Ichiraku ramen stand." He answered.

While Kurenai was in something similar to catatonic shock, it didn't stop her from noticing her student Hinata from walking over to Naruto as he reached the top of the stairs, with something in her hand.

* * *

As Naruto stepped onto the balcony, he found his path blocked by a particular lavender haired Hyuuga who was holding out small jar.

"Hinata? Did you want something?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Uh…I hav-ve this m-medical cream I m-made and y-you're h-hurt." She said offering the jar to Naruto.

Naruto looked at it for a second before his face split into a wide grin. "Thanks Hinata-chan! That's really kind of you." He said, making Hinata blush like a tomato as the added chan to her name.

As this exchange happened, they were observed by Sakura who got a very interesting idea. '_Hmm…Hinata has a crush on Naruto. Naruto is oblivious to said crush, but Hinata seems to be gaining some confidence since she is no longer fainting. Team 7 will have dinner with team 8 in a place of Naruto's choosing. If I can get him to notice her during dinner they could end up dating._' '_This means he'll leave me alone so I can focus on getting Sasuke-kun to notice me. CHA!_' Finished her more outgoing inner self.

As Naruto rubbed the cream onto his cuts, he could feel the wounds closing. "Wow! This stuff is the best Hinata-chan. You're pretty talented to make such a potent cream."

Hinata almost fainted at the complement from her crush, if Shino hadn't stepped in taking her back to where their sensei stood.

Soon the board was flashing again and everyone was anticipating who the next fighters were. Lee was bouncing up and down proclaiming that if the powers of youth were with him, then he would be able to participate in the next match.

Eventually the board came to a stop on…

**Sabaku no Temari VS. Tsurugi Misumi**

"Humph…So it's my turn huh? Well I'll be back shortly." Said Temari as she started walking away.

"Hold it Temari." Commanded her sensei, making her stop and look back. "That is the same attitude that led to Kankurou's defeat. I want you to take this seriously. You should know by now to never underestimate your opponent." Baki scolded.

"Yeah, I'll be sure not to."

* * *

When both fighters stood on the arena, they mentally prepared themselves. Both were older ninja then most of the remaining exam participants, and those years gave them plenty of experience to call on. But one of those two went and said something that guaranteed his defeat.

"So I'm fighting some kunoichi huh? Well don't worry little lady. I won't use any weapons and scar up that pretty face of yours." Said Misumi.

Two large tic marks appeared on Temari's brow as her eye started twitching. "What was that?" She asked in a low dangerous voice.

* * *

"Uh-oh," muttered Baki, "that guy just signed his own death certificate."

Meanwhile, over with team Gai.

"WHAT DID HE SAY!?" Shouted and irate Tenten, who had to be physically restrained by her teammates and sensei from grabbing her weapons and start throwing them at Misumi, and any other males she feels like venting on. "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!!"

* * *

Down on the arena, Hayate began the match so he could get out of harm's way from Temari's feminine rage. "Sixth Match: Sabaku no Temari vs. Tsurugi Misumi Begin!"

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Temari swung her fan open and unleashed her jutsu. "**Kamaitachi** (Cutting Whirlwind Technique)!"

The whirlwind it created slammed Misumi the wall while cutting him up. Not giving the Konoha Genin a chance to get up, or Hayate to call the match, Temari dashed forward, raised her closed metal fan, and smashed the end into Misumi's groin. Needless to say, the match was over and the medics came and took the loser away to the infirmary in the tower.

But Hayate still had to make it official. "Winner: Sabaku no Temari!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I know that this isn't my usual length, but it would have taken me a long time to finish this if I put in the rest of the fights. Apart from finishing my first year at college, one of the reasons I didn't write more involves the three new stories I started. Since I write best when I feel inspiration I started writing Red Dawn: Hope Sprung from Pain, Strength of the Fox Cunning of the Snake, and Naruto: Rebirth of the Arrancar Bloodline. I'll try finishing the preliminaries as soon as I can.

**Please Read and Review.**


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